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NYU  IFA  LIBRARY 


3   1162   04525449   8 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL    SURVEY    OF    EGYPT 


Edited    by    F.    Ll.    GRIFFITH. 


NINTH   MEMOIR 


THE    MASTABA    OF 


PTAHHETEP   AlND    AKHETHETEP 

AT     SaQQAEEH 
PART  II 

THE    MASTABA.       THE    SCULPTUEES    OF   AKHETHETEP 

BY 

N.   DE   G.    DAVIES,    M.A.,    B.D. 

WITH  NOTES  BY  THE  EDITOR 


THIRTY-FOUR    PLATES    AND    FRONTISPIECE 


SPECIAL    FUBLICATIOyr    OF    THE    EGYPT   EXPLORATION   FUND 


LONDON 

SOLD   AT 

The    offices    OP    THE    EGYPT    EXPLOKATION    FUND,    37,    Great    Eussell    Street,    W.C. 

ANB  59,  Temple  Street,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 

ASD  BY  KEGAN   PAUL,   TRENCH,   TRUBNER   &   CO.,  Pateknoster  Hotjse,  Chabins  Cross  Road,  W.C. 

B.  QUARITCH,  15,  Piccadilly,  W.  ;   ASHER  &    CO.,    13,   Bedford   Street,   Covent  Garden,  W.C, 


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ARCHAEOLOGICAL    SURVEY    OF    EGYPT 

Edited    by    F.    Ll.    GRIFFITH. 


NINTH   MEMOIR 

THE    MASTABA    OF 

PTAHHETEP   km    AKHETHETEP 

AT     SAQQAEEH 
PART  11. 

THE    MASTABA.       THE    SCTJLPTUEES    OF    AKHETHETEP 

BY 

N.    DE   G.    DAVIES,    M.A.,    B.D. 

WITH  NOTES  BY  THE  EDITOR 


THIRTY-FOUR     PLATES    AND    FRONTISPIECE 


SPECIAL    PUBLICATION    OF    THE    EGYPT   EXPLORATION   FUND 


LONDON 

SOLD    AT 

The    offices    OF    THE    EGYPT    EXPLOEATION    FUND,    37,    Great    Eussell    Street,    W.C. 

AND  59,  Temtlb  Street,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 

AND  BY  KEGAN   PAUL,   TRENCH,   TEUBNER   &   CO.,  Pateenoster  House,  Cuaring  Cross  Road,  W.C. 

B.  QUARITCH,  15,  Piccadilly,  W.  ;   ASHER   &    CO.,    13,   Bedford   Street,   Covbnt  Garden,  W.C. 

1901 


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LON  DON  : 
PRINTED    BY    GILBERT    AND    RIVINGTON,    LIMITED, 

ST.  jorn's  house,   CLEEKENWELL. 


EGYPT    EXPLORATION     FUND. 

IPrcslOcnt. 
SIi:    JOHN    EVAN.S,    K.C.i;,    D.C.L,    LL.D.,    F.K.,S. 


Dicc=||>rc3i5ents. 


Sir    E.     i\Iauni)k-Thompson,    K.C.B.,    D.C.L. 
LL.D. 

Lt.-General  >Sii!  Francis  Orenpell,  G.C.M.G., 
G.C.B. 

TuE  Kev.  Peof.  a.  H.  Saycb,  M.A.,  LL.D. 

The    Rev.    W.    C.    AVinslow,    D.D.,    D.C.L. 

(U.S.A.). 


The  Hon.  Chas.  L.  Hutchinson  (U.S.A.). 
Prof.   G.  Maspero,  D.C.L.  (France). 
Prof.  Ad.  Erman,  Ph.D.  (Germany). 
JosiAH  Mullens,  Esq.   (Australia). 
M.  Charles  Hentsch  (Switzerland). 


113011.  (Treasurers. 

H.  A.  Grubber,   Ks(i..  F.S.A.  F.  C.  Foster.  Esq.  (Bostuii,  U.S.A.). 


J.  S.  Cotton,  Esq.,  M.A. 


Ibon.  Secretaries. 
The  Rev.  W.  C.   Winslow,  D.D.,  D.C.L.  (Boston,  U.S.A.) 


/iRembcrs  of  Committee. 


T.  H.  Baylis,  E.sq.,  M.A.,  Q.C.,  V.D. 

Miss  M.  Brourick,  Ph.D.  (for  Boston). 

Arthur  Gates,  Esq.,  F  S.A. 

ScMERS  Cl4rke,  Esq.,  F.S..-V. 

W.  E.  Grum,  Esq.,  M.A. 

Louis  Dyer,  Esq.  (for  Chicago). 

Arthur  John  Evans,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 

F.  Ll.  Griffith,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 

Mrs.  F.  Ll.   Griffith. 

T.  Parmer  Hall,  Esq. 

F.  G.  Kenyon,  Esq.,  M.A.,  Litt.D. 

Mrs.  McClure. 

The  Rev.  W.  MacGrbgor,  M.A. 


A.  S.  Murray,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  F.S.A. 

The  Marquis  of  Northampton. 

Francis  Wm.  Percival,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 

F.  G.  Hilton  Price,   Esq.,  F.S.A. 

Mrs.  Cornelius  Stevenson,  Sc.D.  (for  Penn- 
sylvania). 

Mrs.  Tirard. 

The  Rev.  H.  G.  Tomkins,  M.A. 

Emanuel  M.  Underdo wn,  Esq.,  Q.C. 

Sir  Hermann  Weber,  M.D. 

E.  Towry  Whyte,  Esq.,  F.S.A. 

Major-Genbral  Sir  Charles  W.  Wilson, 
K.C.B.,  K.C.M.G.,  F.R.S. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

SECT. 

20. 

5ECT. 

The  Mastaba. 

PAliE 

21. 

1. 

luti'oductory     .          .          .          ■ 

1 

2. 

Extent  of  excavation 

1 

22. 

3, 

Position  of  tonil) 

2 

23. 

4. 

Previous  excavations 

2 

24. 

5. 

Exterior.     The  stonework 

2 

25. 

6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 

N.  side 

W.  side 

S.  side 

E.  side     .         .         -         •         ■ 

o 
O 

3 

o 
O 

3 

26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 

10. 

Interior.          Corridor,      subsidiary 

chamber,  N.  chamber. 

4 

30. 

11. 

Central  hall      .         .         .         • 

4 

31. 

12. 

Vicinity  of  chapel  of  Ptahhetep 

5 

32. 

13. 

Chapel  of  Akhethetep 

5 

14. 

Burial  shafts.     Burials,  &c.,  of  latei 

date 

6 

33. 

CHAPTER    11. 

34. 

The  Scenes  and  Inscriptions. 

35. 
36. 

15. 

( )rioin  of  mastaba  chambers 

8 

37. 

16. 

Their  elaboration 

8 

17. 

The  present  example 

8 

38. 

18. 

Decoration  of  Mastabas 

1) 

39. 

19. 

The  chapel        .... 

1) 

40. 

The  corridor    .... 
Blending    of    religious    and    secular 

subjects       .... 
Range  of  the  artist   . 
Corridor  of  Akhethetep.    E.  wall 

W.  wall 

Chapel  of  x\khethetep.     Arrange' 

ment  of  subjects . 

E.  wall     .  .  .  •  • 

N.  bay,  N.  wall 

N.  bay,  W.  wall 

S.  bay,  W.  wall 

S.  bay,  S.  wall 

N.  and  S.  walls 

The  stela .  .  .  .  • 


CHAPTER    TIL 

Discussions  and  Notes. 

The  Lists  of  the  Estates     . 

Comparison  of  the  lists 

Mode  of  inheritance . 

The  evidence  indefinite     . 

Family    Relationships.      Tombs  of 

the  family  at  Saqqareh 
Ptahhetep  I.      . 
Akhethetep  I.  . 
Other  members  of  the  house 


9 
10 

10 

11 

14 
14 
16 
16 
16 
17 
18 
18 


19 
19 
20 
20 

21 

21 
21 

22 


CONTENTS. 


41.  Pkoportions  of  the  Human  Fi<:in;K 

42.  Colour  Notes 


FURTHER    NOTES,    BY    THE    EDITOR. 

43.  The  nomes        .         .         .         .         . 

44.  The  sparrow  hiei'oglyph    . 


PAGK    '     SKCT. 


'>•> 


INDICES,  &c. 


■2S 


1^4 

27 


45.  List  of  the  officials  of  Akhethetep     .     28 

46.  Index     to    hieroglyphs    figured    in 

Parti 31 

47.  Cross  Index  to  same  .  .         .32 

48.  Notes  on  the  Plates  .         .         .  .34 


LIST    OF    PLATES 

WITH    REFERENCES    TO    THE    PAGES    ON    WHICH    THEY    ARE    DESCRIBED 
(N.B. — Consult  also  Section  48,  Notes  on  the  Plates,  pp.  34-36) 


PLATE 

Frdiifii^pii' 

-r.     Head  of  AkhetheteiJ          ...... 

I. 

Plan  of  Mastaba    . 

II. 

Plans,  &c.      . 

III. 

Photogi'aphs  : 

(1) 

Entrance 

. 

(^) 

(!attle  thrc 

3shing  (Corridor) 

IV. 

Corridor 

— Key-plate       ....... 

V. 

11 

W.   wall- 

—Servants  with  offerings 

VI. 

•< 

•>•> 

Akhethetep  (N.  figure) 

VII. 

11 

.-. 

Harvest  scenes  (upper  part) 

VIII. 

.. 

11 

„                (completion)  . 

IX. 

;  » 

Akhethetep   (S.  figure). 

X. 

11 

E.  wall- 

-AVomen  representing  estates  .   10,11, 

XI. 

11 

North  end   (completing  PI.   X.) 

XII. 

Photographs  of  the 

Interior  ...... 

XIII. 

Chapel 

of  Akhethetep— E.  wall  (left  half)  . 

XIV. 

11 

(right  half)        . 

XV. 

11 

Estates  and  angler  (from  E.  waU) 

XVI. 

V 

Estates  and  fisher  (from  E.  wall) 

XVII. 

11 

N.  bay,  N.  wall 

XVIII. 

11 

N.  bay,  W.   wall      . 

XIX. 

., 

„               (completion)  . 

XX. 

11 

S.  bay,  W.  wall 

XXI. 

11 

,,               (completion)  . 

XXII. 

.. 

S.  bay,  S.  wall  (upper  half)  . 

XXIII. 

,, 

(lower  half)   . 

PAGE 

.  34 

1-G,  22 

.  ;3-(i 

.   3 
.  13 

.  4,  10-U 

11,  12,  23 

.  12 

13,  14 

13,  14,  22 

.  14 

1!)-21,  24,25 

11,27 

4,5 

14-lfi 

14-16 

19-21,23-25 

19-21,23-25 

16,  22,  23 

.  16 

.  16 

16,  17 

16,  17 

.  17 

6,  17 


LIST    OF    PLATES. 


PLATE 

PAGE 

XXIV. 

Chapel 

of 

Akhethetep- 

-X. 

wall.     Key-plate         .          .          .    5, 

18,  23 

XXV. 

)) 

„           Upper  i-egisters 

18,  27 

XXVI. 

7' 

,,           Lower  registers 

.      18 

XXVII. 

,, 

„                       ..             (continued) 

.     18 

XXVIII. 

11 

w. 

wall  (right  half) 

.     18 

XXIX. 

*i 

(left  half) 

.     18 

XXX. 

s. 

wall,  Upper  registers 

.     18 

XXXI. 

., 

(continued) 

.     18 

XXXII. 

,, 

.,        Lower  registers . 

.      18 

XXXIII. 

.• 

(continued) 

.     18 

XXXIV. 

>) 

,,        Key-plate  ....    T), 

1 8,  2;5 

THE     MASTABA     OP     PTAHHETEP 
AND    AKHETHETEP. 


PAET    II. 

THE  MASTABA.    THE  SCULPTURES  OF  AKHETHETEP. 


CHAPTEE    I. 


THE    MASTABA/ 


1.     In  May,   1899,  a  long  winter's  work   in 
the  mastaba  which  is  the  subject  of  the  present 
memoir   having   been  broun-ht  to  a  close,   the 
tomb   was  reburied,  at  a  large   cost   in  labour 
and  money,  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the 
Government  jjerinit.     The  expenditure  might, 
however,    have    been   spared.     A   few   months 
later  the  mastaba  was  disinterred  more  com- 
pletely than  ever  before  by  the  Department  of 
Antiquities,  and  its  rooms  cleared  and  repaired 
for  the  admission  of  visitors.     Really  effective 
measures  for  lighting  and  protecting  the  tomb 
having   been    proposed,    this    forms   a    happy 
termination   to   our  enterprise.     Unfortunately 
I  did  not  hear  of  this  clearance  undertaken  at 
the   expense   of  the   Government  until   on   my 
way    home    last    winter,    and    I    was    therefore 
unable  to  take   advantage   of   it    in   preparing 
this  memoir. 

2.  Before  commencing  the  description  of 
the  mastaba,  attention  must  be  called  to  the 
necessarily  incomplete  character  of  the  clearances 


on  which  my  observations  are  based.  The 
accounts  of  the  mastaba  given  by  those  who 
first  excavated  it,  or  who  saw  it  at  that  time, 
were  so  strangely  misleading,^  and  their  in- 
accuracies so  quickly  exposed  by  the  mattocks 
of  the  labourers,  that  a  thorough  investigation 
was  at  once  seen  to  be  desirable.  But  for  this 
we  were  by  no  means  prepared.  It  was  of 
course  useless  to  think  of  a  complete  recovery 
of  the  mastaba  from  its  buried  state,  restoring 
it  to  its  original  dignity  as  a  massive  structure 
sixteen  feet  or  more  in  height.  Neither  funds 
nor  time   admitted   of  it,  especially  in   ftice   of 


'  Tlii'oiighout  tlie  volume  Mariette's  Les  Mastahas  will  be 
abbreviated  to  Mak.,  Mast.  ;  The  Tomh  of  Ptdhhclep  in 
Quiljell's  i?ai/(cs.S('/(H(  to  Bam.  ;  and  the  DculLiiUiler  of  Lepsius 
to  L.  D.  The  first  volume  of  the  present  publication  will 
be  quoted  as  Part  I. 

"  I  must  exempt  the  worthy  Sheikh  Rubi,  who  was 
formerly  Marietta's  reli/i.f,  and  is  still  in  charge  of  the 
tombs  here.  He  retained  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
disposition  of  the  building. 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKHETHETEP. 


the  official  regulations  at  that  tune  in  force, 
^yhich  made  it  advisable  to  restrict  excava- 
tion as  much  as  jDOssible.  In  several  places, 
also,  deeper  digging  would  have  involved  the 
removal  of  heavy  blocks,  or  the  shoring  up 
of  a  structure,  the  ruined  state  of  which 
was  already  sufficiently  threatening.  Bearing 
this  in  mind,  the  reader  will  pardon  the 
blank  spaces  and  conjectural  lines  which 
occur  in  the  plans.'  Those  who  have  dug  in 
the  drifted  sand  of  the  desert  know  how  closely 
its  properties  aj^proximate  to  those  of  a  fluid, 
and  Avill  understand  why  more  was  not  done  to 
lay  bare  tlie  exterior  walls.  Beyond  the  iden- 
tiiication  and  clearance  of  the  corners  little  was 
attempted  here ;  it  has  been  assumed  on  the 
plan  that  tlie  walls  run  straight  between  the 
points  thus  found. 

3.  As  this  mastaba  is  now  one  of  the  sights 
of  Saqqareh,  there  is  no  need  to  define  its 
position  further  than  by  stating  that  it  lies 
close  to  the  W.  slope  of  the  eminence  on  which 
the  Step  Pyramid  stands.  A  long  depression 
of  clear  sand  runs  N.  and  S.  at  the  foot  of  the 
risinsT  ground  on  this  side,  and  seems  to  mark  a 
roadway  separating  the  pyramid  enclosure  from 
the  city  of  tombs.  Between  this  and  our 
mastaba  there  is  only  room  for  one  tomb  of 
similar  size.  Mariette  places  here  the  tomb  of 
a  Princess  Rahent,  and  shows  a  small  erection 
on  his  plan  (see  Mar.,  Mu,sf.,  p.  359).  No 
evidence  Avas  gained  regarding  this  chamber, 
but  the  existence  of  a  larger  building  a  little 
to  the  S.  of  that  point  became  plain.  A 
mastaba  of  ruder  construction  intrudes  on  our 
tomb  at  the  S.W.  corner.  On  the  N.  and  S. 
there  appear  to  have  been  roadways.  The 
mastaba  faces  12^  E.  of  Magnetic  North. 

4.  This  monument,  so  long  inexactly  known 
as  the  Tomb  of  Ptahhetep,  was  discovered  by 


'  The  limits  of  tlie  clearance  are  indicated  in  a  geiiei-al 
way  in  Plates  I.  and  II.  hy  dotted  or  broken  lines. 


Mariette  nearly  lialf  a  century  ago,  but  no 
record  of  it  was  left  by  him,  except  a  photo- 
graj)h  of  a  scene  in  Ptahhetep' s  chapel  and  the 
rough  plan  given  in  his  Mustuha^i  (under  D  64). 
Owing  to  the  value  of  the  sculptures,  he  had 
probably  determined  to  publish  the  tomb  com- 
pletely, but  found  no  leisure  for  the  purpose. 
Subsequently  the  chapel  of  Ptahhetep  was 
opened  now  and  again  for  the  privileged,  and 
gradually  it  has  1;)een  made  known  by  publica- 
tion ;  but  the  less  attracti\'e  chambers  of 
Akhethetep  were  passed  over  without  mention, 
and  all  tradition  of  their  existence  was  lost. 
De  Rouge  had  some  record  of  the  inscriptions, 
but  apparently  knew  nothing  of  the  connection 
of  Akhethetep  with  Ptahhetep  {Six  Premiere-'^ 
Dynasties,  p.  101).  How  completely  the  know- 
ledge of  this  had  been  lost  as  soon  as  gained 
may  be  gathered  from  quotations,  which  com- 
prise all  that  was  known  to  the  world  of  the 
joint  mastaba  till  1898  : — 

"  II  n'oflre  pas  d'autro  disposition  que  Ic 
tombeau  de  Ti  et  on  y  trouve,  comme  partout, 
un  massif  rectangulaire  qui  est  a  pi'oprement 
parler  le  mastaba,  une  chambre  qui  fait  office 
de  chapelle,  un  serdab,  un  puits,  et  enfin  le 
caveau  souterrain"  (Mariette,  Voijage  dans  la 
Haute  Egijpte,  p.  41). 

"  Das  Grab  des  Ptahhetep  besteht,  wie  dies 
bei  den  meisten  Griibern  auf  dem  Pyramiden 
Felde  bei  Saqqarah  der  Fall  ist,  nur  aus 
einem  einzigen  Gemache  von  sehr  kleinen 
Dimensionen "  (Di'JiiCHEN,  Photograjihische 
Result  ate,  p.  10). 


Ext, 


erior. 


5.  The  appearance  of  white  limestone  above 
the  sand  of  an  Egyptian  cemetery  is  the  signal 
for  prompt  theft.  Consequently  the  walls  of  the 
mastaba  nowhere  retain  their  oriainal  heiaht 
and  all  trace  of  the  platform  surfoce  is  gone. 
In  some  places  destruction  has  been  carried  very 
much  lower,  making  it  impossible  to  restore  tlie 


THE    MASTABA. 


exact  height  witli  any  certainty.  The  liatter 
of  the  exterior  walls  lies  between  1  in  KJ  and 
1  in  20.  Three  kinds  of  stone  are  employed 
in  the  building.  Conspicuous  parts,  such  as 
the  exterior  walls  facing  the  roadways,  and  the 
upper  part  of  all  the  interior  walls  of  the  chief 
rooms,  are  constructed  of  the  fine  white  lime- 
stone of  Turah.  The  walls  on  the  E.  and  W., 
the  lower  (unsculptured)  courses  within  and 
^vithout,^  the  framing  of  the  doorways  of  the 
pillared  hall,  and  all  subsidiary  chambers, 
are  built  of  a  coarser  stone  of  a  purplish 
colour.  A  yellow  stone  of  poor  quality 
is  used  for  roofing -slabs.  Both  the  latter 
kinds  are  obtained,  I  understand,  in  the 
neighbourhood. 

6.  N".  Side. — Tiie  entrance  to  the  mastaba 
lies  towards  the  E.  end  of  the  N.  frontage.  It 
is  narrow  and  set  back  in  a  recess,  the  S.  M'all 
of  Avhich  has  a  much  slighter  batter  than  the 
fixcade.  The  masses  of  debrix  outside  the  build- 
ing at  this  point  foiled  an  attempt  to  determine 
if  this  recess  had  been  pillai-ed  and  roofed  as  in 
some  mastabas,  and  ^vhether  there  ■were  any 
remains  of  an  inscribed  architrave.  x\.  white 
stone  which  is  left  on  the  south  wall  of  the 
i-ecess  may  represent  the  topmost  course,  but  it 
is  too  much  shattered  to  retain  any  trace  of 
inscription.  The  square  lintel  stone  which 
ci'osses  the  doorway  is  blank.  Tlie  recess  offers 
jjroof  that  the  builders  were  not  above  pre- 
ferring show  to  solidity.  At  first  sight  it 
appears  to  be  built  of  very  large  blocks,  but 
these  ai"e  soon  found  to  be  no  more  than 
comparatively  thin  facing-stones,  backed  by  a 
wall  of  rubble.  A.  large  part  of  this  casing  has 
disappeared  from  the  E.  side  of  the  recess.  At 
the  iV.W.  corner  of  the  tomb  the  wall  of  the 
next  mastaba  on  the  N.  can  be  seen,  and 
shows   that    the    lane    between    the    mastabas 


'  At  any  rate  in  the  portico,  the  onl}-  point  outside  where 
these  coixrses  were  reached  by  tlie  excavations. 


must  be  less  than  five  feet  wide  at  the 
ground  level.  From  Section  4,  PL  ii.,  some 
idea  can  be  gained  how  impressive  a  walk  in 
this  necropolis  must  have  been  when  these 
great  structures  were  all  intact  and  seen  at 
their  full  height. 

7.  W.  Side. — The  W.  wall,  which  is  com- 
posed of  the  coai'ser  stone,  presently  terminates 
at  the  entrance  to  another  mastaba,  built  of  the 
same  material,  and  cutting  deeply  into  the 
S.W.  corner  of  its  neighbour  at  right  angles. 
Its  E.  wall  is  vertical,  and  this,  combined  with 
its  general  aspect,  indicates  that  it  is  a  later 
erection. 

8.  S.  Side.— The  S.  wall  is  built  of  blocks 
of  fine  white  stone,  but  its  W.  end  ajipears  to 
have  been  broken  down  to  admit  of  later  con- 
structions. It  continues  hei'e  as  a  rubble  wall 
of  irregular  stones  and  large  black  bricks,  until 
it  meets  a  plastered  Avail  at  right  angles  (E. 
wall  of  the  intruding  mastaba?).  A  doorway 
in  this  latter  (protected  on  the  N.  and  E.  by  a 
second  retaining  wall  at  a  lower  level)  admits 
to  a  small  ruined  chamber  of  rough  construc- 
tion. The  junction  of  the  white  stone  with  the 
rubble  is  marked  by  a  small  brick  recess,  and 
from  this  point  the  former  extends  eastward  far 
past  the  point  where  the  S.E.  corner  might  be 
looked  for,  indicating  a  continuous  frontage  on 
this  side. 

9.  E.  Side. — The  mounds  of  rubbish  com- 
pelled me  to  leave  both  the  external  and  the 
internal  construction  of  tlie  mastaba  at  this 
point  in  much  doubt.  The  corner  of  an  inner 
chamber  built  in  coarse  stone  was  laid  bare, 
and  also  some  white  stones  to  the  N.E.  of  this, 
which  appeared  to  form  the  eastern  entrance  of 
another  room.  Presumably  these  belong  to  an 
adjoining  mastaba,  but  no  clear  line  of  junction 
could  be  established.  Were  it  not  otherwise 
improbable,  an  entrance  or  extension  of  the 
mastaba  in  this  direction  might  be  suspected. 
Perhaps  the  last  excavation  has  decided  the 
point. 

B   2 


THE    MA  STAB  A    OF     PTAHHETEP    AND    AKHETHETEP. 


Illtr 


I'liiV. 


10.  Pi.s.  I.  T(i  IV. — The  nanwv  entrance 
leads  into  an  olilong  room,  which  appears  to 
have  served  only  as  a  corkidor.  In  the  inside 
corner  of  the  doorway  on  the  right  hand  there 
is  a  rehate  showing  traces  of  mortar  (PI.  ii.). 
A  similar  feature  occurs  in  this  room  on  the 
north  side  of  the  doorway  leading  to  the  central 
hall  (PI.  iv.).  It  suggests  that  a  block  of  wood 
was  inserted  here,  and  a  door  of  some  kind 
attached.  The  N.E.  corner  of  the  room  is 
broken  down,  leaving  only  brick  rubble  to 
view ;  but  it  appears  that  this  side  Avas  some- 
what shorter  than  the  other.  About  one-third 
of  the  ceiHng  has  fallen  in.  The  sculptures  of 
the  walls  were  never  completed,  and  exist  in 
every  stage,  from  almost  obliterated  ink  designs 
to  exquisitely  finished  reliefs,  'i'he  room  ends 
in  a  curious  recess,  now  unroofed,  the  construc- 
tion of  which  can  be  sufficiently  gathered  from 
the  plans.  The  narrower  portion  of  it  is  built 
of  the  coarser  stone.  In  this  room  there  was 
found  a  fragment  of  stone  with  a  tapering  hole 
cut  through  it  (PI.  ii.)  to  which  mortar  still 
adhered.  In  the  tomb  of  Mera  a  similar  stone 
is  fixed  upright  in  the  floor  of  the  central  hall ; 
it  is  suggested  that  sacrificial  animals  may  have 
been  bound  to  it. 

A  doorway  in  the  E.  wall  of  the  coi-ridor 
admits  to  a  subsidiary  chamber,  built  of 
the  coarser  material.  This  room,  now  mostly 
unroofed,  I  only  cleared  to  the  depth  of  two  or 
three  feet.  From  its  S.  end  a  very  narrow 
passage  (?)  with  ascending  roof  leads  off,  and 
after  receiving  a  tiny  side-light  on  the  right, 
has  a  still  narrower  exit  between  blocks  of 
white  stone,  which  seem  to  mark  a  chief  room 
or  passage.  The  ascending  (?)  passage,  which 
is  roughly  built,  runs  very  close  to  the  line  of 
the  E.  wall. 

There  are  two  exits  from  the  corridor  on  the. 
\V.  side.  That  nearest  the  entrance  leads  to  a 
N,  CHAMBER    by  a    nari'ow  passage,  which    for 


part  of  its  length  has  a  sudden  increase  of 
height  (see  PI.  ii..  Section  -■)).  This  chamber  is 
also  accessible  from  the  central  hall  and  from 
the  western  chapel.  Another  room,  which  still 
retains  its  roof,  opens  out  of  it  on  the  W. 
Under  a  broad  stone  shelf,  which  extends  across 
its  S.  end,  there  was  found  a  later  interment  in 
a  stone  sarcophagus ;  but  this  small  discovery 
caused  such  pertiirbation  among  the  lesser 
officials,  that  I  made  no  closer  examination  of 
its  contents,  a  glance  inside  having  already 
shown  me  that  the  burial  had  no  importance. 
In  the  passage  to  the  Avestern  chapel  I  was 
able  to  determine  the  level  of  the  pavement. 

1 1 .  The  chief  exit  from  the  corridor,  hoAV- 
ever,  is  by  the  doorway  at  the  farther  end, 
which  enters  directly  the  central  hall. 

This  hall  is  in  great  ru.in,  most  of  the  massi\'e 
stone  architraves  Avhich  carried  the  roof  having 
given  way,  AA^hile  of  the  tlu'ee  which  still  retain 
their  original  position  one  seems  to  do  so  only 
by  a  violation  of  the  laAV  of  gravity  (PI.  xii.). 
The  heavy  stone  roofing  was  carried  on  roughly 
hcAvn  architraves,  ten  to  eleven  feet  in  length, 
Avhich  crossed  the  room  in  three  spans  lay  the 
aid  of  four  pillars.  These  latter,  Avhich  must 
be  monoliths,  still  stand  erect :  it  is  the  archi- 
traves and  the  facing-stones  of  the  Avails  Avhich 
have  yielded.  The  hall  is  built  of  white  stone, 
except  the  framing  of  the  S.  and  W.  doorways ; 
but  the  surface  of  the  Avails  and  pillars  is  rough, 
so  that  its  uninscribed  state  seems  intentional. 
The  large  dimensions  of  the  room  (20  ft.  9  in.  by 
27  ft.  -J  in.)  alone  give  it  architectural  dignity, 
for  no  great  care  has  been  spent  upon  it.  The 
pillars,  which  are  of  oblong  section  Avith  angles 
chamfered  so  as  to  leave  a  rough  capitjil,  ha\"e 
not  even  been  finished.'  One  is  left  a  mere 
quadrangular  monolith,  Avhile  of  two  others  one 


'  In  tlio  pillar  liierogl^'pli,  PI.  xxix.,  col.  K  it  may  be 
this  chamfering  which  is  shown,  as  apjilied  to  a  wooden 
pillar  without  capital. 


THE    MA  STAB  A. 


angle  remains  uncut,  though  marked  for  removal 
(see  diagrams,  PI.  ii.,  and  photograph,  I'l.  xii.). 
The  under  side  of  one  of  the  roofing-stones  on 
the  E.  has  been  cut  away  to  provide  a  slanting 
aperture  for  the  admission  of  air,  as  in  tlie 
chapel  of  Ptahhetep  (Part  I.,  PL  ii.)  The  rest 
of  the  construction  has  been  lost  by  tlic  i-uin 
of  the  wall  at  this  point. 

There  are  several  examples  of  such  pillared 
halls  in  the  mastabas  of  this  necropolis.^ 

12.  Passing  through  a  narrow  doorway  in 
the  S.E.  corner  of  the  pillared  hall,  we  step 
down  and  enter  a  small  room  whose  roof  (now 
oone)  was  not  higher  than  the  entrance.  On  the 
right  hand  is  a  shelved  recess.  In  the  lowest 
corner  of  this  a  shell  was  found  containing  red 
paint.^  The  conclusion  m;iy  well  be  hazarded 
tiiat  it  ^vas  left  in  that  dark  spot  by  one  of  the 
artists  who  painted  the  walls  of  the  chapel 
within,  perhaps  the  master  Ptahenankh  himself. 
The  construction  of  the  mastaba  to  the  E.  of 
this  antechamber  could  not  be  thoroughly 
determined.  After  Mariette's  discovery  of  the 
tomb  the  aristocracy  of  Egypt  were  occasionally 
admitted  to  the  chfipel,  and  for  their  con- 
venience a  stairway  was  made  at  this  point, 
probably  at  the  cost  of  some  destruction.  It 
is  only  by  the  removal  of  this  and  a  critical 
examination  of  the  foundations  here  tliat  tlie 
original  plan  could  be  recovered. 

Close  to  the  door  of  the  chapel  a  narrow  way 
diverges  to  the  left  through  a  low^  and  tiny 
room,  built  in  white  limestone,  and  ends  at 
three  chambers  (?),  now  filled  with  fallen  bricks 
and  stones.  In  the  space  between  this  and  the 
end  of  the  corridor  only  the  lowest  part  of  the 
building  remains,  and  most  of  it  is  covered  by 


'  Mar.,  Mast.,  C  6,  D  19,  61,  62,  63,  and  p.  332. 

-  Tlie  artist  who  is  depicted  before  his  easel  (?)  in  the 
doorway  of  the  tomb  of  Mera,  holds  sucli  a  shell  in  his 
hand.     Cf.  Prtrie,  Maihim,  pi.  xxi.x. 

^  The  roofing-stone  shown  in  PL  ii.,  section  -1,  .seems  to 
be  in  nitii. 


the  stairway  mentioned  above.  The  higher 
portions  of  the  mastaba  are  kept  up  by  retain- 
ing walls  (some  of  them  modern?).  In  one  of 
these  is  seen  the  little  opening  into  the  narrow 
extension  of  the  east  chamber. 

13.  Pls.  XIII.-XXXIV.— The  chapel  of 
Ptahhetep  has  been  sufficiently  described  in 
Part  1.  of  this  work.  It  remains  to  notice  the 
Chapel  of  Akhethetep,  which  is  reached  from 
the  pillared  hall  by  a  doorway  immediately 
oi^posite  the  entrance  from  the  corridor.  It 
is  T-shaped.  This  rare  form  was  well  adapted 
to  meet  the  difficulty  of  roofing  over  a  large 
chamber,  but  perhaps  the  upright  of  the  T  may 
be  looked  upon  simply  as  a  great  deepening  of 
the  niche  in  which  the  •  stela  was  placed,  in 
order  to  give  room  for  further  sculpture  (so 
also  in  the  tomb  of  Mera) .  There  is  a  chamber 
of  this  shape  in  a  tomb  at  Gizeh  (No.  53, 
L.  !>.,  i.  25).'  iUl  the  walls  are  sculptured, 
but  they  have  received  serious  injury.  The 
great  stela  which  formed  the  west  end  of  the 
chamber  lies  on  its  back,  and  its  upper  half  has 
been  broken  away.  Both  sides  of  the  stem  of 
the  T-chamber  also  have  lost  a  corresponding- 
part  of  their  sculj^tures,  though  a  good  many 
of  the  displaced  stones  still  lie  in  the  room. 
The  original  position  of  most  of  these  could 
be  determined  ;  they  have  accordingly  been 
replaced  in  the  representation  of  the  walls 
(Pis.  xxiv.  and  xxxiv.).  In  this  reconstruction 
it  became  apparent  from  some  fragments  of 
the  southern  list  of  ofterings  that  this  part  of 
the  chamber  was  loftier  by  10  inches  tlian  the 
bays,  whose  original  height  is  shoAvn  by  remains 
of  the  roof  (PI.  ii.,  section  2).  Signs  of  this 
additional  register  are  also  noticeable  on  the 
topmost  stone  In  kHu,  of  the  N.  wall.  The 
loss    of  the    roof,  by  exposing    the    sculptures 


'  Compare  tlie  //(t-chamljers  at  Meilum  (PRTitrE,  Meditm, 
PI.  vii.),  and  the  underground  inscribed  chamber  of  Ada  at 
DeuJereh  (Petrie,  Deiuhreh,  PI.  v. a). 


THE  MASTA13A    OF    PTAHHETEP    AKD    AKHETHKTEP. 


to  damp,  has  caused  great  injury  to  the  upper 
portions.  Nevertheless,  much  remains  in  fair 
preservation,  and  where  the  stone  is  good  the 
reliefs  have  beautiful  delicacy  and  finish.  In 
places  a  good  deal  of  colour  still  remained, 
though  much  of  it  was  soon  lost  with  the  saline 
incrustations  that  held  it.  On  the  N.  wall  of 
the  N.  bay  this  crust  completely  hid  the 
sculptures,  and  could  only  be  removed  Avith 
great  difficulty.  In  the  opposite  wall  a  hole, 
scarcely  large  enough  to  admit  even  a  child, 
has  been  broken,  and  discloses  the  position  of 
the  serdab.  As  the  chamber  appeared  to  be 
empty  and  in  ruin,  I  made  no  attempt  to  enter 
it.  It  may  be  the  serdab  of  which  Mariette 
speaks,  but  there  is  very  likely  another,  dis- 
covered or  undiscovered,  connected  witli  the 
burial  of  Ptahhetep. 

14.  The  chief  weU  lies  to  the  W.  of  the 
chapel  of  Ptahhetep.  As  Sheikh  Rubi,  search- 
ing his  excellent  memory,  asserted  that  the 
stone  sarcophagus  in  the  burial  vault  bore  a 
short  inscription,  I  made  an  attempt  to  reach  it 


at  the  close  of  the  season,  while  eno;a"red  in 
re-burying  tlie  tomb.  But  the  well  was  so 
spacious  that  I  was  ol)liged  to  desist,  after 
making  considerable  progress.  Whether  by 
original  design  or  owing  to  collapse,  the  real 
mouth  of  the  well  is  only  to  be  reached  at 
ground  level.  Above  this  the  retaining  walls 
of  rubble  masonry  enclose  an  enormous  pit.  A 
much  smaller  shaft  was  discovered  to  the  E.  of 
tlic  corridor  (PL  ii.,  section  3).  On  reaching 
the  chamber  below  it  was  found  to  be  full  of  the 
tJehris  of  pillaged  burials  of  late  date,  and  may 
possibly  lie  itself  a  later  construction.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Sheikh  there  is  a  well  behind  the 
stela  of  Akhethetep,  wliei^e  indeed  one  was  to 
be  expected.  No  signs  of  it  were  visible,  but 
the  fallen  stela  may  conceal  the  mouth.  The 
space  between  the  stela  and  the  exterior  wall 
is  vacant,  either  owing  to  the  collapse  of  the 
well  or  to  excavations  for  the  purpose  of  later 
interments. 

In   the    shaft   of  the    small  Avell    there  Avas 
found  the  lower  part  of  a  gray  granite  sliabti 


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TOMB   OF    PTAHHETEP,    SAyQAREH,    1899. 


THE    MASTABA. 


figure,  inscribed  for  Mentuemhat,  sou  of  Ast- 
en-Kheb,  aud  fourth  prophet  of  Anion,  the 
well-known  ruler  of  Thebes  under  Tahanja 
(Benson  aud  Gourlay,  Teviplc  uf  Mat,  pp.  350- 
oG8 ;  Dakessy,  Becneil  ch'  Goiics  Funeraires, 
No.  201).  It  is  useless  to  conjecture  what 
chance  brought  it  to  this  resting-place. 

Some  later  burials  were  met  with  beside  that 
one  mentioned  above.  A  clumsy  wooden  sar- 
cophagus interred  near  the  mouth  of  the  great 
well   was   left  \vhere  it   was    found.      Another 


wooden  sarcophagus  of  better  class  lay  just 
outside  the  W.  wall.  The  mummy  within  was 
adorned  with  the  usual  gilded  mask  and  car- 
tonnage  ornaments,  but  bore  no  name.  The 
coffin  was  accompanied  by  a  small  pylon-shaped 
wooden  shrine,  painted  with  figures  of  deities 
and  religious  emblems,  and  surmounted  by  a 
hawk  with  the  double  plume.  Tiiis,  with  all 
other  chance  finds,  Avas  handed  over  to  the 
Museum  officials. 


THE    ilAS'l'ABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKllETUETEP. 


CHAPTEll    II. 


THE    SCENES    AND    INSCRIPTIONS. 


15.  Although  the  internal  construction  of 
the  mastabas  of  Saqqareh  may  seem  endlessly 
varied,  examination  soon  reveals  an  underlying 
principle,  in  comparison  with  which  the  diver- 
gences are  accidental  and  subsidiary.  A 
building  such  as  the  tomb  of  Mera,  which  is 
merely  a  rectangular  shell  holding  a  com- 
plicated series  of  rooms,  and  even  a  second 
story,  is  not  so  far  distant  in  evolution  from 
the  early  type  of  mastaba  as  at  first  it  seems 
to  be.  The  latter,  as  is  well  kno'wn,  consisted 
of  a  solid  mass  of  masonry,  having  one  or  two 
recesses  in  its  eastern  facade,  in  which  the  stela 
or  "  false  door "  was  set  up,  and  offerings  laid 
for  the  use  of  the  dead.  For  the  protection  of 
the  stela  the  recess  was  deepened,  and  when 
the  space  was  found  inconveniently  narrow 
for  the  ceremonies  it  Avas  roofed  over,  thus  be- 
coming a  small  inner  room.  Since  all  rites  and 
offerings  took  place  before  the  stela,  the  room 
containing  it  may  be  called  the  Chapel  of  the 
mastaba.  Next  to  the  burial  vault  it  is  the 
most  essential  chamber,  and  in  it  the  inscribed 
door  and  its  altar  are  the  only  essential  features. 
In  the  earlier  and  simpler  mastabas  the  chapel 
is  of  small  dimensions,  and  is  situated  just 
wthin  the  mass  on  the  E.  side.  The  false  door 
was  always  set  in  the  W.  wall,  that  it  might 
afford  communication  to  the  dead  who  live  in 
the  happy  West. 

16.  As  piety  took  more  lavish  forms  a  more 
roomy  interior  Avas  needed  for  its  display.  The 
chapel  was  set  more  deeply  back,  so  that  a  long 
corridor  was  frequently  needed  as  an  approach. 
In  some  cases  a  hall  of  such  size  that  its  roof 


required  the  support  of  several  pillars  was 
added  as  a  convenience  to  those  who  gathered 
for  the  cult  of  the  dead  ;  where  pi'esent,  it  was 
usually  the  first  room  to  be  entered.  Sub- 
sidiary chambers  for  storage  were  also  found  a 
necessity.  But  the  chapel  containing  the  stela 
is  still  the  real  justification  for  all  else.  The 
suite  of  rooms  terminates  here,  and  its  walls 
receive  the  most  important  scenes  and  inscrip- 
tions. If  the  proposed  subjects  exceeded  tlie 
limits  of  the  chapel,  the  walls  of  the  corridor 
might  also  be  occupied ;  but  the  secondary 
importance  of  this  position  is  shown,  not  only 
by  the  scenes  portrayed,  but  also  by  the 
unfinished  state  in  which  they  are  often  found. 
17.  It  will  easily  be  seen  from  this  pre- 
sentation of  the  typical  mastaba  that  the  23lan 
of  the  tomb  of  Ptahhetep  and  Akhethetep  has 
not  deviated  essentially  from  the  simjjler  form. 
The  somewhat  intricate  arrangement  of  the 
chambers  and  the  strange  shape  of  the  western 
chapel  may  be  largely  due  to  accidental  causes, 
to  the  double  burial,  and  to  the  less  usual  and 
probably  compulsory  choice  of  the  north  side 
for  entrance.  In  the  case  of  each  burial  the 
chapel  is  still  the  all-important  room  above 
ground,  as   the    abandoned    sculptures    in    tlie 


'  Any  scientific  value  wliicli  this  cliaptt'i'  may  prove  to 
have  is  largely  due  to  .suggestions  or  information  gained  iu 
frequent  discussions  with  Mr.  Griffith,  -who  has  also  kindly 
read  over  my  manuscript  and  added  several  intcre.sting 
i-eferences.  To  make  particulai'  acknowledgments  would  be 
tedious,  and  leave  many  omissions.  I  can  only  say  that 
the  reader  will  not  easily  overestimate  my  indebtedness. 


THE     SCENES    AND    INSUlUi'TiONS. 


corridor  prove ;  and  we  fire  far  from  tlie  series 
of  fully-sculptured  chambers  which  we  find  a 
little  later  in  the  tombs  of  Mera  and  Kagemna. 

18.  A  brief  analysis  of  the  motive  of  the 
tomb  decoration  employed  here  may  also  be 
attempted.  A  desire  would  naturally  arise 
that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  should  take  pleasure 
in  their  chapels  on  other  occasions  beside  those 
when  the  i^iety  of  the  living  had  jDlaced  fresh 
viands  there.  This  problem  jaresented  no  gi'eat 
difficulty  to  a  people  who  had  such  a  love  for 
sign,  symbol  and  script,  and  attributed  to  them 
such  ]-eal  potency  as  did  the  ancient  Egyptians. 
At  least  the  designs  which  they  executed  on 
the  walls  of  the  chapel  and  of  the  entrance, 
and  sometimes  on  the  facade  near  the  doorway, 
seem  to  have  this  for  their  object.  On  the 
one  hand,  the  volatile  spirit  of  the  deceased 
might  gain  a  needed  fixity  and  mundaneness 
from  his  sculptured  figure  and  titles ;  on  the 
other  hand,  thanks  to  the  liberal  depictions  of 
the  labour  liy  which  subsistence  is  gained  and 
of  its  fruits,  he  could  experience  in  this  dark 
and  narrow  chamber  much  of  the  real  joy  of 
life  and  work  that  was  still  animating  others  in 
the  green  plains  of  the  river  valley. 

19,  The  representations  of  most  importance 
to  the  dead,  and  to  which  therefore  the  chajjel 
walls  are  in  the  first  instance  devoted,  are : — 

(1)  The  stela,  fashioned  to  represent  a  plank 

door  set  in  an  elaborate  framing.  The 
deceased  is  generally  represented  on  it 
in  the  act  of  passing  in  or  out ;  in  a 
few  cases  his  statue  occupies  the  niche. 
It  is  ordinarily  inscribed  with  such 
prayers  to  divine  ^Dowers  as  would 
procure  for  the  dead  the  conditions  of 
blessedness. 

(2)  The    figure,    name,    and    titles    of    the 

deceased. 

(3)  A  tabulated  list  of  articles  of  food,  con- 
sisting when  fullest  of  about  100  entries. 

(4)  The   deceased   sitting   before    a   lavishh- 

spread  table. 


(5)  The  bringing  of  varied  provisions  and  the 

slaughter  of  animals  by  the  "  servants  of 

the  kii." 
(0)  The  religious  ritual  by  which  the  viands 

were  fitted   to   aftbrd  nourishment  to  a 

glorified  spirit. 
(7)  The  depiction  of  Avife  and  family,  favourite 

servants   or  domestic   pets,  in   order  to 

assure  the  dead  man  of   their  renewed 

companionship. 

20.  One  can  imagine  the  funeral  procession 
23assing  through  the  corridor  on  the  day  of 
burial.  The  wooden  shrines  containiuir  the 
statues  of  the  dead  are  dragged  in  by  the 
celebrants  with  professional  lamentation  and 
dancing,  and  much  priestly  recitation  and 
ritual,  and  thei'e  follows  a  long  line  of  servitors 
leadino;  sacrificial  animals  or  bearing;  ofi'erings 
of  smaller  sort.  Prominent  among  these  is  the 
file  of  serfs,  each  of  Avliom'  rej^resents  one  of  the 
estates  of  the  deceased  and  carries  appropriate 
gif"ts.  These  scenes,  therefore,  form  the  natural 
subject  for  corridor  decoration,  and  the  frequent 
depiction  of  shipping  will  be  found  perfectly 
concordant  when  it  is  remembered  that  then, 
as  now,  the  waterAvays  of  Egypt  formed  its  only 
high  roads.  Other  representations  less  obviously 
connected  with  the  provisioning  of  the  tomb, 
such  as  scenes  of  agriculture  and  craftsmanship, 
also  find  a  jDlace  in  the  corridor  (notably  in  the 
tomb  of  Thy). 

21 .  Theoretically  the  whole  of  the  decora- 
tion is  designed  for  the  one  end  of  sustaining 
the  life  of  the  dead  in  blessedness,  Avhether 
by  the  magic  infiuence  of  the  representations 
themselves,  or  by  the  direction  which  they 
gave  to  the  piety  of  the  living,  who  by  correct 
ritual,  gifts,  and  prayers  could  contribute  so 
much  to  the  welfare  of  the  dead.  It  is  true 
that  much  often  meets  our  eyes  in  these  chapels 
that  seems  |3urely  biographical  or  pictorial,  or 
in  which  the  artist  appears  to  have  given  rein 
to  his  own  often  humorous  delight  in  living- 
form  and  action,  in  total  oblivion  of  the  religious 


10 


'I'llK    MA.S'I'ABA     OK    ITA  II II  KTKl'    AND    A  K  II  p;'nii;'ri';i' 


motive.  W'l'  iiiiisl,  iilldw  tliiit,  wliiil,  ill  ilscH' 
irt  so  iiiitiinil  dill  Imliid  ri'(!i|uoiilly  oi'i'iii". 
Till'  ('iil.ii-cly  sccuJMi-  Miiil  oltcii  joruliir  siipcr- 
si'ii))|,ioris  to  tlic  S(!(;ii(!S  of  (hiijy  life,  iniilcc.  siuili 
Mil  !i(lmissio(i  iinpdriitivc.  And  yet,  wlicii  tlic 
iii'list  scniis  In  li!iV(!  tidvcii  US  I'lMllirsl.  fniiii  ;miv 
llioiiolii,  (,|  ilic  ^rjivi',  and  \vr  ;iit  in  lln'  Imsy 
lidlds  in  liiirvest  time,  sailiim'  nii  liic  river  in 
slii|)s,  wjitcliin^  tli(!  tiissid  of  Mil'  li(ialiiirii  in  llic 
inii-rsli(;s,  and  acn  convincrd  llial  lir  is  milv 
('X(!r(!isinjr  Ids  loving'  skill  in  drpiil  inu  ilir 
animal  lil'r  mI'  IIic.  dcsrrt,  llir  liinl  lil'i'  uilJi 
wliKJi  llir  |ia|iyi'iis  lliick'cts  were  ali\c,  or  llii: 
(U'liwdcd  yards  (jj'  (lie  |iriis|)crniis  larms,  wc;  arc; 
suddenly  liroiij^lit  hack  liy  a  word  in  llie  siiper- 
scri|)ti()ii  Id  llic  carcliiial  aim  of  il  all.  The 
wlinlc  life  of  iJic  (•(iiinlry  estate,  wlietJKM'  merry 
or  liiisy,  is  lieinrc  us,  and  il.  apprars  to  lie  of  I  lie 
world  woi'ldly.  Hut  this  estiite  we  liiid  is  one 
set  apart  to  supply  llir  "  Iiousr  of  (;ternit\." 
'I'iio  I'eajiers,  hei'dsincn,  and  lishermen  arc; 
M(M'V)ints  of  the  same,  and  all  tlio  busy  move- 
iiH'iil  liast  inado,  workshops,  aeeoiint  hooks  and 
all  is  su|)|)osed  to  Inive  as  its  solr  nid  llie 
assMi'iUKH;  to  tlm  dccciiised  of  a,  lavish  provision 
foi'  his  home  in  the  iKH-ropolis.  'I'he  motive  held 
j^ood  though  Ihe  end  was  not  idwayB  kejjt  elosc^ly 
in  mind.  If  Ihe  dead  man  is  liero  seen  husily 
suprriiilciidiii;j,'  the  mana^cnieiit  of  Ihe  farm, 
or  enor^fctically  enpjii^'iiij;'  in  the  sport  which 
tlir  nm.rsIi(!S  allorded,  it  is  an  admissioii  that 
his  happiness  could  not  he  considered  to  Ik; 
satislied  hy  tlu^  "thousands  of  oxen,  oi'  ^cese 
and  of  heer  "  tor  which  he  |)rayed.  The  vital 
and  cNcu  l('i;al  interest  which  Ihe  dead  still 
possessed  in  the  cnlluii;  ot  the;  la.nd  ;;a.vc!  full 
occasion  lor  Ihe  most  S(;cidar  scenes,  and  when- 
over  the  connection  ix^caine  strained  it  was 
easy  to  rostoro  it  hy  an  allusion  in  the 
superscript  ion. 

22,  The  artist  was  hy  no  means  a  free 
man.  As  is  always  the  case,  a  vinlalion  of 
tin;  pi'escriiied  canon  coidd  only  he  pardoned 
where   merit  disarmed  criticism.      Tin'  realistic 


fi;enius  oi'  some  artist  had  conscicrated  many  a 
scene  or  touch,  and  had  'jiiined  lor  il,  admission 
to  tin;  limiled  iiiimhc;r  ol'  possihle  suhjects  lor 
tomh  sciiljiture.  What  f^enius  had  done  ^.jenius 
could  do  a^aiii.  lint  for  the  most  |)art  the 
l'j^y])l:iaii  dra.iiahtsmeii,  who  were  admiralile 
copyists,  lollowed  closely  the  traditions  of  Iheir 
craft.  The  ^roupiiif^  or  selec(i<iii  of  sul)jects 
to  occupy  the  walls  of  :i  ehamlier  had  often  no 
hi;jher  I'ltason  than  Ihe  fancy  of  the  patron,  or 
their  siiitahility  to  fill  tin;  spa-ce  neatly  with 
picliircis.  Mv(!n  the  homely  hadina^^e,  with 
wliicli  the  peasants  are  represi^nted  as  lij^hteii- 
in^'  their  lahours,  had  f^enerally  become  well- 
worn  jesting',  liowev(;r  obvious  it  may  be  that  it 
once  was  ra.cy  of  the  soil. 

I  'iirndnr  e/'  ,  llrln  I  lulrji. 

23.  I'l.s.  IV..  .\.,  XL  Kast  Wai.i,.-  The 
al)ove  notes  on  loinh  decoration  may  enable  the 
readier  who  is  not  familiar  with  other  tombs 
of  the  [)(;riod  to  appreciate  Ihe  si;;iiiticaiice  of 
the  scenes  described  below,  and  to  estimate  the 
influence  of  conventional  rules  on  their  treat- 
ment. l*'oi'  the  sake  of  conveinence,  the  oi'der 
of  entrance  will  be  followed,  the  coiTidor 
r(!(!(Mvin^  our  first  attention. 

The  scenes  still  visible  on  the  Iv  (left  hand) 
wall  are  those  connnonly  found  on  corridor  walls. 
The  main  space  was  occupied  by  three;  ships, 
with  their  prows  to  tlic  ri^ht  hand.  They  are 
manned  l)y  ei;j,ht  or  twelve  rowers  each,  the 
steersm(;n  in  tin;  stern  ;^ui(lin^-  the  vessels  in 
the  usual  way  by  double  steerinj;'  oars.  The 
first  two  boats  !i.t  l(;ast  carry  masts.  The 
vai'yinj;'  slant  of  the  oars  se(;ms  to  indicate'  that 
tlu;  first  has  I'eached  anchorage;,  the  second  is 
slackening;'  speed,  while  the  third  is  still  in  full 
coiuse.  The  ii<>'ure  of  Aklicthetep('i')  in  the  lirst 
vessel  can  be;  restored.  The  (i{i;ures  of  two  m(;u 
runninff  (with  oars,  &c.  ?)  can  just  be  seen  above 
it;  but  the  insci-iptions  arc  too  nnich  injured 
for  translation.     Above  the  doorway  is  a  row  of 


TIIK    SCKN'KK     AND     I NSCU I  I'TIONS. 


11 


serviuils,  avIio  may  liaAc  hccn  a|i|iiMacliiii<j^-  a, 
sitting-  iigurc  of"  Akliutiieto]),  and  al  llic  side  is 
'' tlie  servant  uf  llic  Ira  and  K('c|)cr  <>('  Mic 
Wardrobe;  (?),  Kai^nitlu'iicnt.  "  '  'i'liis  one  liguro 
is  soul[)turod  ;  otlHM'wisu  all  llic  ahove  scones 
liaxc  l)ccn  Iclt  nncnt,  and  remain  as  designs 
merely,  the  ligurcs  in  black,  the  ships  in  red 
and  yellow  inks.  The  greater  ])a,rt,  iiowever,  is 
now  quite  erased.  Melow  the  sliips  a  long 
procession  of  lemale  tigures  deliles,  luiaded  ])y  a, 
leader,  a  scribe  and  a  servant.  The  I'ormer 
presents  a  tablet  ol'  accoimts  to  Akluitluitep's 
son,  I'tahhetep  (cC.  Tls.  xv.,  xvi.).  Seventeen 
women  I'ollow,  carrying  produce  in  l)aske,ts  on 
their  heads,  and  bi'inging  birds  and  aniujals 
as    the   tribute    oi'   the    estates.     The    scene    is 


leaded 


"  Review  of  liie  presentation  by  the  superin- 
tendent ol'  the  estate  attaclied  to  tim 
pyramid  '  Heautirnr  of  King  Assn.,  Fii'st 
after  the  King,  lM;abli(!tep." 

Hin(;e  tlu;  son  receives  this  ti'ibule,  we  ma,y 
infer  that  it  is  ijresented  after  lh(^  dealii  u[' 
Akhcthetep.  Tlie  sign  oi'  an  enclosure  which 
follows  the  ruune  written  in  I'mnl  of  each  w<iman 
makes  it  clear  that  she  )'e])resents  nnc  <,{'  lIk' 
many  estates  belonging  to  Akhethete]).  Such  a- 
list  is  not  unconnnon,  but  In  re  it  gains  a  vcny 
rare  value  from  llie  mention  oi'  the  district 
in  which  each  I'arm  was  sitnate<l.  This  maslaba, 
is  singularly  valiiaJile  in  all'ording  us  no  less 
than  three  such  lists  of  propej'ty.  Sciparatc^ 
treatment  of  tlu;  (piestions  which  tlusy  raise  will 
be  found  on  pp.  liJ-Hl  and  21-27. 

Behind  the  scenes  ab(;v(!  mentioned  tlieii: 
folhjw  others  which  secni  lo  have  been  taken 
haphazard  l'ri>m  iJie  decorator  s  book  ol'  |)atterns. 
Below  we  have  the  familiar  gi-oup  in  which 
tethered  calves  try  in  vain  to  reach  llieii- 
mothers,  or  are  held  fust  by  herd  boys.     Abovi; 


'    A   lint  of    tllO   SOl'VaUtH    arjll    ollirinis    lilllli(;cl    ill    llir    liilllli 

will  bu  fouiiil  oil  pp.  2S-li(). 


this  men  an;  em|)l\'iiig  wine  into  large  open- 
nioiillicil  jars,  pi-oli:iliU'  I'or  eventual  storage  in 
the  Iwii  long-neckcid  vessels  which  stand  near. 
Above  their  shoulders  is  a,  hieroglvph  which 
seems  to  denote  the  ollice  of  cellarer.  ( )ne  of 
tluMii  is  being  a,(ldr(;sse(i  by  a,  comradi; 

".   .   .   .    May  yoiii' desire  grt'atly  prosper." 
The  explanatory  note  is  — 

"Storing  the  wine  which  is  for  jiit-Uiitii 
oll'i'riiigs." 

Tlu;  hilter  half  of  th(;S(;  two  scenes  has  only 
been  (executed  in  ink.  Nothing  on  iJiis  wall  is 
in  a,  liiiished  slate.  I*]ven  in  the  lower  register 
the;  lignres  are  merely  cut  out  roughly  round 
the  di'awn  outlines;  the  inside  lines,  where; 
preserved,  .arc;  only  in  ink. 

24.  I'l.s.  IV.  I\.  \V.  VVaix.  Tlu.  W.  wall, 
though  likewise  imilnished,  is  in  miicli  b(;tt(;r 
(;onditioii.  It  is  oc(;n[)ied  by  two  scenes,  each 
(•onl,ain(;d  in  fiv(;  registt;rs  and  witn(;sso(l  by 
/\khellieti'p  and  his  son,  whose  titles  are 
i'(;(;orded  ()V(;rh(;a(l.  The  movement  is,  as  usual, 
li'om  llie  door  inwards  townrils  (Ik;  [)reserice  of 
the  (lead.      The  first  S(;(;ne  is  entitl(;d — ■ 

"  Viewing  the  works  of  the  field,  that  which 
is  bi'oiight  by  tlu;  lisli(;riii(;n  oi'  IJh^ 
estates  belonging  to  the  l,oml)." 

Of  the  I  Wo  iipp(;r  registei's  only  so  much  of 
tli(;  design  r(;iiia:ins  as  to  show  tha,t  tlu;  s(;cond 
r(;gist(;r  began  lik(;  tlios(;  b(;low.  'I'li(;r(;  would 
probably  be;  a  fishing  scene  at  tlii^  end.  In 
the  three  remaining  rows  S(;rva,iits  advance; 
(;a,rryiiig  birds  a.nd  l)uiich(;s  of  papyrus  and 
lot, us,  I  Ik;  prodii(;e  of  I  In'  marsh-lands.  The 
i'owling  seem;  aliovc^  the  doorwa.y  (I'l.  viii.j 
carri(;s  our  thoughts  ba,ck  to  the  labour  by 
which  tli(;  gifts  were  gained.^ 


■  l''roiii  \hi;  lnmllOH  vvhicli  ciiiKMiiil  llic  rnwlcrs  llio  wioiio  iw 
ill  ink.  'rill!  iic.\(,  figure,  liy  oiil,Hl.rcjt,i:liit(l  uniiH,  \h  f^iviiif,' 
I  Ik;  .siMiMl  |,(,  olo.HO  Uio  liul,. 


12 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHKTEP    AND    AKHETHETEP. 


The  superscriptions  in  the  top  register  seem 
to  contain  three  separate  and  confused  spellings 
of  the  word  irsnir,  meaning  "birds  for  the 
table."  ^  They  must  read  "  Bringing  table- 
birds  "  ;  "  Putting  table-birds  in  the  box  "  ;  and 
"  Taking  table-birds.'' 

From  the  fourth  and  third  figures  respectively 
in  the  two  lowest  registers  the  sculptures  are 
merely  blocked  out  more  or  less  carefully  :  all 
inside  detail  is  marked  only  by  the  draughts- 
man's design.  Where  the  sculj^tures  are  finished 
the  work  is  extremely  good,  so  that  the  uncom- 
pleted state  of  the  walls  must  be  due  to  an 
unexpected  order  to  cease,  rather  than  to  lack 
of  time. 

Pl.  VI. — Over  the  head  of  Akhethetep  are 
six  columns  of  titles.  It  will  be  convenient 
to  tabulate  hei'e  all  the  offices  assigned  to  him 
in  the  tomb,  beginning  Avith  those  in  this  list. 

1.  Supreme  Judge  and  Vizier.    Pis.  vi.,  xiii., 

xiv.,  xviii.,  xx.,  xxiv.,  xxviii,,  xxix. 

2.  Superintendent  of  the  Great  Court.    PI.  vi. 


First  after  the  King. 


Pis.  vi.,  xiv.,  xviii.. 


XX.,   XXVUl.,   XXIX. 

4.  Stalf  of  the  People.     Pis.  vi.,  xiii.,  xviii., 

XX.,  xxviii.,  xxix. 

5.  Alt  hi  inat.^     Pis.  vi.,  xxix. 

6.  Sub  ad  laei:^     Pis.  vi.,  xviii.,  xx. 

7.  Priest  of  Maat.     Pis.  vi.,  xxviii.,  xxix. 

8.  Chief  Priest  of  the  Pyramid  "  Beautiful  " 

of  King  Dad  ka'ra.*     Pis.  vi.,  xiv. 

9.  Superintendent  of  the  Property  attached 

to  the  same.     Pis.  vi.,  xiii.,  xviii.,  xx., 
xxiv.(?),  xxviii.,  xxix. 


'  V.  Ben!  Husan,  III.,  p.  14;    Slut,  PI.  v.,  1.  239.     In 
the    tomb    of    Kagemna    there   is    still    another    spelling : 


\Z\\^'h'^- 


■  A  priestly  title  which  is  still  unexplained. 

'  An  office  whicli  seems  to  be  connected  with  irrigation. 

*  This  name  is  always  used  by  Akhethetep  in  his  own 
titles.  In  the  same  title  as  borne  by  his  son  and  in  all  farm 
names  the  king  is  called  Assa,  and  Ptahlietep  always  uses 
this  form. 


10, 

14. 
1.5. 
l(i. 

17. 

18. 

ID. 
•20. 

I'l. 

22. 

23. 

24. 
25. 


1 1 .  The  same  two  offices  for  the  Pyramid 

"  Divine  of  Situation "'  of  King  Men' 

kau'hor.     PI.  vi. 
J  3.  The  same  for  the  Pyramid  ''  Firm  of 

Situation  "  of  King  Ne'user'ra.    PI.  vi. 
Superintendent  of  the  two  White  Houses. 

I'ls.  ix.,  xiii.,  xiv.,  xviii.,  xx.,  xxix. 
Superintendent    of    the    two    Granaries. 

Pis.  ix.,  xiv.,  xviii.,  xx.,  xxix. 
Superintendent   of    the    Scribes   of    the 

Royal    Accounts.       Pis.    xviii.,    xx., 

xxviii.,  xxix. 
(See   Title    2.)      Director   of  the    Great 

Court.     Pis.  ix.(?).  xiii.,   xiv.,  xviii., 

XX.,  xxviii.,  xxix. 
Superintendent  of  all  Judicial  Decisions. 

Pis.  xxviii.,  xxix. 
Confidential  Companion.     Pl.  ix. 
Superintendent  of  all  the  Royal  AVorks(?). 

Pl.  ix.(?). 
Superintendent  of  the  South.    Pis.  xiii.(?), 

xiv.,  xviii.,  xxiv. 
Superintendent  of  the //f.'<-j:>e/'.     Pis.  xiii., 

xiv.,  xviii.,  xxiv. 
Great  One  of  the  Southern  Tens.     Pis. 

xiv.(?),  XX. 
Director  of  all  Scribes.     Pl.  xiv. 
Sal)    ad    inrr   of  the    Southern    Throne. 

Pis.  xiii.,  xiv. 


Ink  traces  of  a  seventh  column  seejn  to  show 
that  there  were  other  titles  which  it  was  after- 
wards decided  not  to  include.  That  one  whicli 
is  visible  is  given  to  Ptahlietep,  but  nowhere 
to  Akhethetep.  The  latter  here  wears  the 
customary  blue  and  green  necklace,  and  carries 
a  handkerchief  (?)  in  his  left  hand.  The  son 
wears  the  lock  of  youth  (here  only),  the  neck- 
lace, and  the  amulet  so  frequently  figured  in 
the  ohapel  of  Ptahlietep.  Like  his  namesake 
there  he  holds  a  pet  hoopoe  in  his  hand.  He  is 
entitled — 

"  His    eldest  son,  beloved  by  him,  his  trusty 
one.      Superintendent     of     the      estate 


THE    SCENES    AND    INSCRIPTIONS. 


13 


attached  to  the  ijyramid  '  Beautiful ' 
of  King  Assa,  First  after  the  King,  Staff 
of  the  People,  the  Snh  ad  mer  (Pis.  xv., 
xvi.),  .Superintendent  of  Writing  (PI. 
xxxiii.),  Ptahhetep." 

Pl.s.  VII.,  VIII. — The  subject  chosen  for  the 
farther  half  of  the  wall  is  the  favourite  one  of 
the  harvest  field.     It  is  described  as — 

"  Viewing  tlie  works  of  the  field,  the  reap- 
ing (?)  and  carrying,  a  sight  fair  beyond 
all  things." 

The  execution  of  the  work  is  curiously  uneven. 
The  two  upper  registers  are  sculptured  in  a 
somewhat  coarse  and  careless  manner ;  the  third 
and  the  fifth  remain  at  tlieir  first  stage  as  mere 
designs.  These  latter  are  now  so  soiled  and 
faint  that  I  discovered  them  almost  by  accident. 
Nevertheless,  the  draughtsman,  whose  easy  brush 
traced  these  temporary  outlines  for  the  guidance 
of  the  sculptor,  had  un^vittingly  raised  a  most 
secure  monument  to  his  skill.  Where  the  stone 
was  uninjured  a  little  careful  cleaning  called 
out  again  as  if  by  magic  the  bold  lines  which 
it  had  received  ages  ago ;  for  Egyptian  ink 
was  almost  a  mordant,  and  nothing  but  the 
roughest  usage  can  affect  it. 

The  fourth  register  again  exhibits  all  stages 
from  preparation  to  finish.  On  the  left  the 
figure  is  passably  well  executed.  The  animals 
and  figures  which  follow  are  merely  blocked 
out,  and  within  the  rough  outline  the  true  lines 
of  the  designer  appear.  Finally,  the  cattle 
on  the  threshing-floor  and  their  herdsman  are 
moulded  in  the  most  delicate  relief  jDossible. 
The  swell  of  the  creatures'  muscular  necks  as 
they  bend  their  heads  is  so  beautifully  indicated 
that  to  pass  the  finger  over  it  is  like  stroking 
the  living  animal. 

In  the  top  register  the  reaping  is  depicted  in 
no  very  admirable  way.  The  field  of  grain  is 
not  shown ;  the  action  of  the  arms  is  awkward 
or  impossible.  Seven  men  advance  in  file, 
and  each,   seizing  with  the  left  hand  as  many 


stalks  as  he  can  grasp,  cuts  them  through  ^vell 
below  the  ears  with  the  sickle  which  he  holds 
in  his  right.  The  awkward  action  which  is 
represented  seems  to  indicate  that  the  bunch 
is  then  thro"\vii  to  one  side,  to  be  gathered  into 
bundles  by  others.  Two  foremen  by  gesture 
and  speech  encourage  the  reapers  in  their  task, 
which,  with  no  better  implement  than  a  sickle 
set  with  flints,  must  have  been  extremely 
laborious.  All  engaged  in  the  work  are  clothed 
in  the  lightest  possible  way.  The  second 
register  depicts  the  carriage  of  the  sheaves. 
They  are  placed  in  jianniers  or  piled  up  in 
bundles  on  the  backs  of  donkeys;  who  exhibit 
their  hereditaiy  reluctance  to  do  anything 
reasonable,  and  make  double  assistance  and 
frequent  blows  necessary.  A  woman  and  a 
lad  take  an  easy  part  in  the  work  by  gleaning 
the  stray  ears.  The  scenes  are  not  in  sequence, 
so  that  to  follow  the  operations  we  must  now 
proceed  from  the  bottom  of  the  wall  upwards. 
Here  (PI.  viii.)  the  asses,  having  brought  their 
load  and  dropped  it  near  a  stack,  are  being 
driven  back  for  more  by  their  attendants. 
Above  the  drove  is  written :  "  Driving  back 
2500  (!)  asses.  Gee  up!"  Three  men  mean- 
while lift  the  sheaves  from  the  ground  and  throw 
them  upon  the  pile.  The  stack  from  its  regular 
outline  might  be  mistaken  for  a  granary,  but 
other  examples  show  the  piled-up  ears.  Above 
is  "  A  pile  of  330,000.     Stacking  the  grain." 

Next  we  are  shown  the  two  threshing-floors, 
on  which  animals  are  kept  in  movement  to 
tread  out  the  grain,  both  oxen  and  asses  being 
used  for  the  purpose.  Men  stand  round  the 
floor  on  all  sides  to  keep  the  beasts  upon  it. 
Their  uplifted  sticks  give  point  to  the  words 
"  Keeping  back  the  cattle,"  and  to  the  exhorta- 
tion of  the  herd  behind  them,  "  Look  after 
them  !  "  '     The  "  servant  of  the    Jca  "  Akharna 


'   The    iiLscriptioH    can     be     restored     fi'om     numerous 
examples  :   --  t  "^^ -^  tl  V  P  -~~- • 


14 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKflKTHETEP. 


is  shouting  acToss  the  floor  to  liis  comrade : 
"0  !  lay  on  upon  his  hindquarters  "  ;  no  doubt 
in  reference  to  an  ass  who  is  taking  advantage 
of  the  situation  by  snatching  a  mouthful 
of  wheat. 

Pl.  VII. — The  final  process  is  shown  in  the 
middle  register,  where  girls  are  employed  in 
sifting  and  Avinnowing  the  grain  as  it  comes 
from  the  threshing-floor  mixed  with  chaft"  and 
other  refuse.  The  surface  of  the  stone  has 
suffered  here,  leaving  little  more  than  the  figure 
of  a  girl  who  is  passing  the  grain  through  a 
sieve  to  remove  the  larger  impurities.  The 
foiling  and  Ireaped-up  grain  are  conveniently 
represented  by  a  hard  outline.  Above  we 
read  :  "  Sifting  grain  by  the  five,"  '  and  "  Win- 
nowing (?)  by  the  five."  Analogous  scenes  show 
us  other  women  winnowing  by  letting  the  grain 
fall  from  uplifted  scoops,  while  men  keep  them 
supplied  from  the  stack  by  means  of  a  fork. 
The  foi'mer  figure  seems  to  have  been  depicted 
here  ;  over  her  head  is  written :  "  Hurry  !  (?) 
The  scene  in  which  the  harvest 
was  registered  and  stored  in  granaries  is  not 
shown,  but  the  stubborn  donkey  makes  a  final 
appearance,  as  if  to  suggest  the  transport.  He 
is  being  urged  and  pulled  on  in  a  way  whi(;h 
is  repeated  daily  at  every  ferry  on  the  Nile. 
Above  is  the  cry  of  the  driver':  "  Hurry  on 
to  thy  work.     See  !  "  ^ 

The  second  figure  of  Akhethetep  with  his 
son  only  differs  in  irrelevant  detail  fi'om  the 
former,  but  the  titles  of  the  father  seem  a  con- 
tinuation rather  than  a  repetition.  Over  the 
doorway  to  the  central  hall  a  part  of  the  ink 


'  Mr.  Griffith  reminds  me  that  five  is  the  unit  of  a 
workmen's  gang  (Beni  Hasan,  I.,  PI.  viii.  ;  Kah.  I'ap., 
p.  41).  ^ 

=  Restore  [j  \  TT"  g,^  --  ^  --  W^  ef.  L.  D., 
ii.  80. 

'  For  an  animated  description  of  harvest  scenes  and  their 
by-play  consult  Maspero,  Etudes  Eijyptieiines,  vol.  ii.,  p.  67. 
It  will  be  seen  that  some  use  has  boon  made  of  it  in  the 
above  sketch. 


desigu  can  still  be  traced  (PI.  viii.).  A  row 
of  servants  bring  articles  of  personal  and  toilet 
use  (?)  to  their  master.  The  foremost,  who 
carries  the  sandals  and  a  form  of  sack,  which 
gave  the  name  to  a  common  office  in  the  house- 
hold,* is  the  seal-bearer  Seshemnefer. 

Chapel  of  Jl-Jicfhefep. 

25.  Passing  through  this  doorway  and 
across  the  centre  of  the  great  hall,  we  enter 
the  T-shaped  chfipel  of  Akhethetep  by  a 
doorway  in  the  middle  of  its  E.  wall.  The 
arranoement  of  the  scenes  has  a  considerable 
resemblance  to  that  in  Ptahhetep's  chapel, 
despite  the  curious  shape  which  has  been 
given  to  this  room.  In  the  chajDcl  of  Ptahhetep 
the  E.  wall  is  devoted  to  outdoor  scenes,  the 
connection  of  which  with  funerary  offerings 
is  comparatively  remote.  But  the  subjects  of 
the  N.  and  S.  walls  (notwithstanding  a  slight 
invasion  of  the  former  by  a  more  secular  scene, 
which  also  has  some  parallel  in  Akhethetep's 
chapel)  converge  upon  the  W.  wall,  tliat  wall 
being;  reserved  for  the  false  doors,  the  list  of 
ofterings,  and  the  scene  in  which  a  banquet  is 
provided  and  consecrated  for  the  deceased. 

In  the  chapel  of  Akhethetep  the  same  general 
disposition  is  made.  The  whole  extension  of 
the  chamber  to  the  W.  corresponds  to  the  W. 
wall  of  Ptahhetep's  chapel,  and  is  occupied  by 
the  single  stela  at  the  end,  and  on  the  two  sides 
by  a  representation  in  duplicate  of  servitors 
bearing  gifts,  of  massed  offerings,  with  the 
prescribed  list  of  the  same,  and  of  the  deceased 
sitting  at  table.  The  two  W.  walls  of  the 
bays  contain  the  presentation  of  oxen  and  of 
wild  animals  respectively. 

26.  Pls.  XIII.  XVI.  E.  Wall.  — The 
disposition  of  the  subjects  on  the  long  E.  wall 
is  very  artistically  managed.     The  rectangular 


'  Part  T.,  p.  82, 


THE    SCENES    AND    INSCRirTIONS. 


15 


doorway  is  set  in  the  midst  of  a  clump  of 
pa23yrus,  the  tall  stiff"  stems  of  which  harmonize 
well  with  the  lines  of  the  opening,  while  they 
are  deftly  connected  with  the  scenes  on  either 
side.  These  form  two  symmetrical  designs 
representing  the  life  and  products  of  the  marsh 
lands.  However  hackneyed  this  picture  of 
the  bird-haunted  thicket  niay  be,  its  wealth 
of  incident  never  fails  to  make  it  attractive. 
The  lithe  animals  Avho  seek  their  j^rey  among 
the  reeds  are  climbing  the  bending  stems  in 
pursuit  of  it,  causing  terrible  consternation 
among  the  fledglings  in  the  crowded  nests 
and  the  parent  birds,  Avho  bravely  hover  o\'er 
their  little  tragedy.  Overhead  the  air  is  full 
of  flying  fowl  and  winged  insects  of  all  sorts. 
Unhappily  the  scene  is  nearly  -weathered  away. 

Below,  in  the  water,  two  fishermen  ply  their 
craft  in  frail  skiffs,  one  by  means  of  a  dip-net, 
the  other  with  more  ease  and  success  by  line 
and  bait  (Pis.  xv.  and  xvi.).  The  artist  seems 
to  have  considered  that  in  these  two  odd 
corners  he  might  be  allowed  a  little  deviation 
from  the  more  ordinary  representations ;  they 
ai"e  the  most  original  touches  in  the  sculptures 
here. 

Pls.  XIV.  AND  XVI. — The  scene  proper  on 
the  right  hand  is  divided  into  four  registers, 
and  is  thus  described  : — 

"  Viewing  all  the  works  of  the  fields  in  the 
marsh  lands,  whatever  is  goodly," 

Akhethetep  sits  to  watch  the  scene,  clothed  in 
a  loose  tunic  and  weai'ing  a  long  wig. 

In  the  topmost  register  the  men  carry  large 
bundles  of  the  long  jiapyrus  stems,  which  they 
have  pulled  on  the  farther  edge  of  the  pools. 
Below  is  seen  the  return  of  the  boats  laden 
with  waterfowl  and  lotus  flowers.  The  merry 
boatmen  have  bound  the  flowers  in  chaplets 
round  their  heads,  and  hung  them  on  their 
necks,  and  are  poling  their  canoes  over  the 
shallow  pools,  where  lotus  j^lfints  of  both  the 
jilue  and  white    species  grow  luxuriantly.     A 


good-humoured  fray  seems  to  have  been  the 
invariable  accompaniment  of  these  trips.  This, 
therefore,  the  artist  depicts,  and  gives  us  to 
understand  that  if  these  contests  were  in  sport 
they  did  not  lack  vigour.  Below  (i.e.  in  the 
foreground)  we  see  the  cattle  brought  home 
across  the  marshes.  A  herdsman  carries  a 
young  calf  on  his  Ijack  through  the  water,  and 
the  cows  docilely  follow.  The  inscription  above 
is  very  difficult  to  interpret  satisfactorily.' 

Below  the  whole  scene  a  procession  of  female 
figures,  representing  the  southern  estates,  is 
received  by  Ptahhetep.  The  five  properties 
which  were  situated  in  Upper  Egypt  have  their 
names  attached. 

"  The  counting  of  the  contributions  of  the 
estates  belonging  to  the  tomb,  which 
the  South  brings  for  '^ler-liherv,  offerings, 
by  his  beloved  elder  son,  the  snh-ad-mer, 
Ptahhetep." 

A  similar  scene  and  iuscrii^tion  on  the  N.  side 
of  the  doorway  represents  the  contributions 
of  the  North.  Together  they  comprise  the 
seventeen  family  estates.  They  are  considered 
in  detail  in  Ch.  III. 

Pls.  XIII.  AND  XV. — The  corresponding 
space  on  the  N.  of  the  doorway  is  devoted  to 
similar  subjects,  which  depict  the  labour  in 
the  uncultivated  lands  of  the  northern  estates. 
The  description  runs — 

"  Viewing  the  works  of  the  field,  everything 
that    is    goodly,   done    in    the    papyrus 

beds(?)." 

In  the  highest  register  are  cattle.  A  labourer 
assists  at  the  birth  of  a  calf,  while  the  overseer 
as  usual  superintends.  Next  to  this  is  shown 
the  familiar  process  of  making  papyrus  skiffs 
by  binding  the  reeds  tightly  together.  One 
workman    is    engaged    in    what    may    be    the 


'  The  reading  "^^  /I\  is  doubtful,  the  first  sign  extremely 


16 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKHETHETEP. 


caulking  or  daubing  of  the  boat  within.  Above 
are  coils  of  rope,  and  the  words  [•s'Jp/  .'<mh 
■m  mhf,  "  Building  a  boat  in  the  papyrus 
beds  (?)."  Underneath,  men  are  bringing 
bundles  of  papyrus  and  marsh  fowl.  "Bringing 
all  kinds  of  good  things  made  in  the  j^apyrus 
beds  by  the  papyrus  gatherers  (nihtiiu),'-  and 
all  kinds  of  fowl."  Similarly  below,  where  the 
inscription  is  :  "  Going  forth  from  the  marsh 
land,-  and  bringing  the  work  of  the  fields  from 
the  papyrus  beds,  fair  to  see  abo\  e  all  things." 
Over  one  wlio  is  plucking  up  a  stem  of  tlie 
plant  we  read  :  "  Tearing  out  (?)  a  papyrus 
stem." 

27.  Pl.  XVII.  N.  Bav,  N.  Wall.— The 
two  upper  registers  here  are  occupied  by 
outdoor  scenes.  xVbove,  a  herdsman  watches 
tethered  animals,  and  a  comrade  puts  captured 
birds  into  a  cage.  On  the  right  an  old  and 
privileged  servant  sits  comfortably  in  a  herds- 
man's shelter.  He  is  enjoying  the  viands 
plentifully  spread  before  him,  and  the  antici- 
pation of  the  pot  of  beer  which  a  boy  is 
bringing.  Below,  on  the  left,  a  cow  suckles  her 
calf,  but  in  the  next  group  natural  rights  are 
being  disregnrded,  in  spite  of  protestations,  and 

the  milk  drawn  into  a  jar.     "Milking " 

A  companion,  bent  with  age  or  by  some  burden, 
watches  over  another  large  vessel  of  milk, 
which,  as  is  customary,  is  closed  by  a  stopper. 
The  marking  and  green  colour  of  the  latter 
seem  to  indicate  that  it  is  a  leaf  or  a  bunch 
of  grass,  such  as  a  modern  Arab  would  use  for 
the  purpose  (r.  Part  L,  PI.  xvi.).  The  little 
son  of  the  overseer  looks  on  with  interest,  but 

his    remark,   " my    father  (?),"   is    lost. 

Above  and  to  the  right  of  the  dooi'way  are 
pictured  the  gifts  of  food  for  the  dead,  whether 


'  For  the  two  strongly  contrasted  hieroglyphs  tiw  and 
aleph,  see  Part  I.,  PI.  vii.,  figs.  88,  89. 

-  This  new  occurrence  of  the  word  upholds  L.  D.,  ii.  77 
and  105&,  and  makes  the  correction  by  Maspero  to  ""x 
unnecessary. 


piled  up  on  tables  or  in  the  hands  of  approaching 
servants.  "  Bringing  forward  the  per-lchern 
offerings  as  daily  dues  of  every  day."  Tlie 
scenes  on  the  right  have  been  left  in  the  brush 
design,  which  was  executed  in  red,  blue,  and 
green  inks.  The  red  ink  lines  which  gave  the 
proportions  of  the  figure  are  here  well  pre- 
served (see  pp.  22.  23). 

28.  Pls.  XVIII.,  XIX.  N.  Bay,  W.  Wall. 
— The  subject  of  the  W.  wall  of  the  N.  bay 
of  the  room  is  sufficiently  designated  by  the 
inscription  : — 

"  Seeing  the  presentation  of  animals  of  the 
desert." 

Akhethetep  and  "  his  beloved  son  "  ^  Ptahhetep 
are  followed  by  five  officials  and  a  second 
figure  of  his  son.  This  entourage  consists  of 
a  steward,  a  chief  physician  who  is  named 
Unnefer,  and  three  sah  scribes.  There  are  led 
for-svard  for  Akhethetep's  api^roval,  in  the  two 
upper  rows  an  oryx,  a  bubale,  a  gazelle,  and 
an  ibex*;  in  the  two  lower  a  male  ibex  and  an 
addax,  and  another  oryx,  gazelle  and  bubale. 
The  middle  registers  are  occupied  by  men  who 
present  birds  and  flowers.  The  sculptor,  dis- 
couraged by  a  bad  stone,  has  left  the  last  figure 
in  both  rows  uncut.  The  lower  hieroglyphs  in 
the  columns  of  titles  preserve  much  of  their 
colour  and  beauty  of  outline.  Several  will  be 
found  in  Part  I.,  V\.  xviii.  (coloured). 

29.  Pls.  XX.,  XXI.  S.  Bay,  W.  Wall.— 
In  design  the  decoration  of  this  wall  is  the 
counterpart  of  that  last  described,  fatted 
oxen  being  substituted  for  the  antelopes. 
Other  officials  are  represented,  three  of  whom 


'  For  the  point  of  grammar  v.  Setiie,  I'erhimi,  ii., 
p.  358. 

*  The  animal,  which  appears  to  be  a  female,  is  called 
l/iii-'t,  while  the  male  below  is  given  the  ordinary  name  iv/-'. 
The  other  name  occurs  again  in  the  tomb  of  Thy,  but  I  have 
no  means  of  identifying  the  species  and  sex  of  the  antelope. 
An  ibex  is  al.so  termed  there  yh,  "the  dancer"  (Bia'C.scH, 
Die  Aijijptischc  Oriibenrclt,  I'j.  i.). 


THE    SCENES    AND    INSCRIPTIONS. 


17 


are  .svrA  scribes  of  hioh  rank.  The  description 
is: — 

"Viewing  the  cattle  of  the  Thoth  festival, 
brought  from  the  properties  of  the  lea 
and  the  estates  belonging  to  the  tomb 
in  the  Nox'th  and  South  country." 

The  long-horned  cattle,  decked  out  with  elabo- 
rate green  collars,  are  driven  up  in  six  groups 
by  their  herdsmen,  who  carry  wisps  of  green 
grass  for  their  charges.  The  animals  in  the 
tojj  register  are  termed  ijn,  instead  of  yir\  and 
are  unadorned.  The  lower  part  of  the  wall 
retained  the  greater  part  of  its  colouring,  so 
that  the  smaller  figure  of  Ptahhetep  and  his 
titles  could  be  almost  completely  restored 
to  the  original  painted  brilliancy.  In  this 
figure  the  hair  or  wig  is  worn  in  curious 
waves. 

30.  Pls.  XXII.,  XXIII.  S.  Bay,  S.  Wall. 
— -The  uppermost  register  of  the  S.  Avail  is 
occupied  by  a  scene  in  which  shrines  (?),  shaped 
like  narrow  pylons  and  crowned  with  four 
feathers,  are  dragged  three  at  a  time  by  as 
many  men.'     The  superscrijitions  read  : — 

"  Bringing  up  the  sledges  by  the  servants 
of  the  ha" 

The  structures  scarcely  look  like  the  shrines 
which  contain  statues,  but  present  considerable 
analogy,  on  a  far  larger  scale,  to  a  class  of  small 
wooden  shrines  of  much  later  date,  which  also 
are  shaped  like  oblong  pylons.  One  of  these 
latter  (described  on  p.  7)  was  chanced  upon 
in  the  course  of  the  excavations. 


'  The  scene  recurs  in  the  tomb  of  Kagemna  at  Saqqareh, 
where  the  shrine  is  adorned  above  by  two  feathers  and 
pendant  tassels  ('?).      Two    bands  cross  it  diagonally.     As 

the  inscription  there  is     1  ^^^     I  ^^,    followed 

by  three  facsimiles  of  the  shrine  as  determinatives,  stt 
must  be  the  reading  of  the  indefinite  hieroglyph  here  also, 
but  the  shrine  is  sometimes  called  nirt  (Bb.,  Wurterl.. 
p.  67.5). 


In  the  two  middle  rows  varied  gifts  are 
brought  by  servants,  the  title  being  : — 

"  Bringing  forward  the  provisions  belonging 
to  the  daily  service."  " 

The  second  register  is  manifestly  preliminary 
to  the  fifth  and  sixth.  Here  oxen  are  being 
caught  and  bound  for  slaughtei'.  "  Tying  up 
an  ox  tightly."  A  lasso  is  about  to  be  thrown 
round  the  horns  of  the  second.  "  Noosing 
an  ox  securely."  The  scenes  in  which  the 
slaughtered  animals  are  cut  up  for  consumption 
are  repeated  in  almost  every  tomb,  and  the 
sentences  of  address  and  resjionse  or  of  ex- 
planation show  little  variation.  One  man,  after 
cutting  through  the  hide,  disjoints  the  animal 
with  a  large  flint  knife,  while  a  comrade  pulls 
at  the  limb  to  make  the  severance  more  easy. 
Then  we  have  :  "  Tug  !  "  "Tug  properly  !  " 
"  Do  it  well,  comrade  !  "  "  Take  good  hold, 
comrade !  "  and  the  resj^onse,  "  I  am  doing  as 
you  say,"  and  the  like.  The  butcher  plunges 
his  hand  into  the  carcass  ;  as  the  hieroglyphs 
say,  he  is  "  extracting  the  heart."  In  another 
case  the  operation  is  too  slow  for  his  comrade, 
who  says,  with  outstretched  hand,  "  Cut 
quickly."  As  might  be  expected,  the  knives 
speedily  grow  blunt.  They  are  then  passed 
to  a  companion,  and  he,  holding  the  knife  edge 
downward  in  his  left  hand,  restores  the  edge 
by  means  of  an  implement  which  is  attached 
to  his  girdle,  like  the  steel  of  his  modern 
representative.  Though  the  action  is  clear, 
the  explanation,  "  Sharpening  the  knife,"  is 
usually  added.  The  knives  are  painted  a  Imff 
colour,  which  very  closely  resembles  that  of 
the  chert  flint  knives  which  are  found  in  early 
graves.  They  are  set  in  hafts  (red).  The 
sharpener  is  blue,  the  handle  perhaps  being  of 
another  colour. 


-  Read 


Pc 


D-/^ 


25o®Tg^ 


18 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKHETHETEP. 


31.     Pls.XXIV.-XXVIL:  XXX.  XXXIV. 

The  N.  axd  S.  Walls. — In  the  extension  of 
the  room  which  forms  the  upright  of  the  T 
all  the  sculpture  is  strictly  concerned  with  the 
maintenance  and  well-being  of  the  hi.  The 
side  walls  being  similar  in  decoration  and  about 
equally  destroyed,  one  description  will  serve 
for  both. 

At  the  far  end  of  the  room  the  deceased  sits 
before  the  table.  Above  his  head  Avere  his 
names  and  titles/  and  over  the  table  is  the  list 
of  oiferinffs  in  five  rows  of  sixteen  columns, 
thus  containing  eighty  items,  as  against  ninety- 
six  in  I'tahhetep's  chapel.  Beneath  the  table, 
the  curious  form  of  which  is  never  much 
varied,  is  a  pile  of  massed  offerings,  and  the 
words: — "Offerings:  thousands  of  bread,  of 
beer,  of  oxen,  of  geese,  of  yarn,  and  of  cloth." 
These  are  being  brought  by  some  fifty  officials 
and  unnamed  servitors.  Ptahhetep  and  the 
"  very  numerous  lectors  "  appointed  to  perform 
with  him  the  necessary  rites,  are  celelirating 
them  at  the  head  of  the  procession.  Behind 
follow  the  well-laden  friends  and  servants  of 
the  deceased.  Four  registers  of  varied  offerings 
above  complete  the  decoration  of  the  wall. 

All  the  work  is  beautifully  finished  and 
is  in  excellent  preservation,  considering  the 
ruin  of  the  chamber  and  loss  of  the  roof.  A 
little  colour  remains  here  and  there  ;  the 
offerings  beneath  the  table  have  retained  most. 

32.     Pls.  XXVIIL,  XXIX.     The  Stela. 
The   false    door   which  foi'ins  the  end   wall    of 
the   chamber  was,    from  the  point  of  view  of 
the    /r«,    the    entrance   to   this,  the    reception 


'   A   fragment  inscribed  with   part  of  the  cartouche  of 
Dadkara  must  come  from  here. 


room  of  his  house.  It  has  been  a  magnificent 
monument,  and  a  great  deal  of  impious  energy 
must  have  been  expended  on  its  mutilation. 
Two  stones  which  were  recovered  near 
(PL  xxviii.)  show  that  probably  it  differed 
from  that  in  the  S.  chapel  only  in  having  an 
additional  jamb.  The  inscription  on  the  jambs, 
ending  with  the  name  and  standing  figure  of 
the  dead,  is  identical  on  both  sides.  It  gives 
the  usual  formula  : — 

"  May  the  king  and  Anubis   grant  perlcherv 

ofterings    to    him    in    the    necropolis    as 

daily  rations  every  day." 
"  (May    Anubis,    lord    of    the)    sacred     laud 

grant  his  burial   in    the  necropolis,  and 

a  very  happy  old  age  as  to  one  who  is 

deserving." 
"  (May    Osiris,    lord    of)    Busiris    grant    his 

burial    in    the    necropolis    city    in    the 

western  desert."' 

For  the  titles  see  p.  12.  Akhethetep  is  here 
described  as  "  deserving  before  the  great  god 
(Osiris)." 

The  traces  of  colour  which  remained  on  the 
stela  were  numerous  and  often  vivid,  but 
deteriorated  with  exposure.  For  notes  and 
examples  of  colour,  see  Part  I.,  chap.  iii. 
{passim).,  and  ih.,  PI.  xviii. 

On  the  figure  of  Ptahhetep  a  black  line 
edging  the  eye  above  and  below  was  visible, 
and  in  one  case  the  traces  of  a  black  moustache 
on  the  upper  lip  (cf.  Meilirm,  p.  24).  Beard  and 
hair  are  black  as  usual.  The  deep  recess  indi- 
cating the  doorway  was  grained  to  represent 
wood,  as  in  the  chapel  of  Ptahhetep  (Part  I., 
PI.  XX.),  but  without  division  into  planks. 

The  hieroglyphs  are  very  finely  formed  ;  a 
good  number  Avill  be  foimd  in  the  plates  of  the 
first  volume.     (For  reference  index  see  p.  31.) 


19 


CHAPTEE    III. 


DISCUSSIONS    AND    NOTES. 


The  Li.4.^  of  the  Estates. 

33,  This  tomb,  wliich  contains  a  burial  of 
father  and  son,  and  a  record,  in  some  respects 
unique,  of  family  estates  under  two  generations, 
might  be  expected  to  afford  very  valuable 
information  on  many  points  of  tenure  and 
inheritance.  Upon  examination,  however,  it 
yields  little  but  disappointment  in  this  respect. 
Growing  knowledge  may  make  its  data  more 
fruitful,  but  present  conclusions  from  them  are 
rather  of  a  negative  character.  Even  the 
relationship  of  the  two  occupants  of  the  tomb 
remains  a  matter  of  opinion. 

34.  Three  estate-lists  are  given  in  the 
tomb :  one  in  the  chapel  of  Ptahhetep  {Ram., 
Pis.  xxxiv.,  XXXV.'),  another  in  the  chapel  of 
Akhethetep  (Pis.  xv.,  xvi.),  and  a  third  in  the 
corridor  (Pis.  iv.,  x.  and  xi.).-  The  two  latter 
give  the  estates  of  Akhethetep  with  slight 
variation.  In  the  chapel  they  are  set  in  regular 
order.  On  the  south  half  of  the  E.  wall  the 
five  estates  of  the  south,  or  Upper  Egypt,  are 
recorded ;  on  the  N.  of  the  doorway  are  the 
twelve  estates  of  Lower  Egypt.^  The  estates 
range  from  aljove  the  Faiyum  to  the  coast, 
following  the  western  branch  of  the  Nile,  and 
are  in  such  evident  order  that  the  apparent 
deviations   from   strict   sequence   must  be  due 


'  See  also  notes  on  these  plates,  Part  I.,  pp.  40-42. 

■'  Quoted  as  P,  N,  S,  and  C  ;  N  and  S  being  the  lists  of 
North  and  South  estates  in  the  chapel  of  Akhethetep. 

^  A  thirteenth  figure  has  the  nome-sign  attached,  but  no 
name. 


to  our  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  limits  of  the 
nomes  and  the  position  of  the  estates  in  them. 
Tlie  scribe,  too,  would  be  more  likely  to  follow 
in  thought  a  convenient  itinerary  than  to  keep 
strictly  to  the  order  of  the  political  divisions. 
Starting  at  the  border  between  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt,  he  pi'oceeds  to  the  most  southern 
estate,  and  then  returns,  nome  by  nome,  to  the 
extreme  north. 

The  corridor  list  differs  from  that  of  the 
chapel  both  in  order  and  contents.  Following 
roughly  the  order  of  Ptahhetep's  list,  the 
southern  estates  are  first  mentioned,  but  those 
of  Lower  Egypt  are  commenced  from  the 
extreme  north,  and  the  list  works  southward 
in  an  irregular  way.  Three  southern  estates, 
which  for  some  reason  were  omitted  at  tiie 
commencement,  are  inserted  at  the  end,  and  the 
list  closes  in  the  borderland  between  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt,  as  it  began.  There  are  four  dis- 
crepancies in  the  two  lists.  The  last  name  but 
one  in  the  corridor  (C  1 6)  appears  to  be  a  mistake 
for  S  .5,  but  the  substitution  of  the  cartouche  of 
Horakau  (C  15)  for  that  of  Menkauhor  (S  2) 
seems  correct  (cf.  Mar..  Mast.,  p.  353).  C  3 
and  5  (nome  VL),  which  replace  N  4  and  5 
(nome  IIL),  seem  to  have  belonged  to  Ptahhetep 
(P  11  and  15  ?)  and  to  be  genuine  names. 
Perhaps  there  was  some  reason  for  restricting  the 
list  of  family  estates  to  seventeen  or  eighteen. 
(Ptahhetep  has  eighteen  engraved  names;  another 
Ptahhetep  *  two  lists  of  seventeen  each.) 


'  M.\i!.,  Mast.,  D  02  ;  called  henceforward  Ptahhetep  I. 

C    2 


20 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKHETHBTEP. 


Of  these  nineteen  names  five  can  be  identified 
with  certainty  in  Ptahhetep's  list,  both  by  their 
names  and  nome  signs  (P  1,  3,  4,  8,  17),  and 
three  others  with  more  or  less  probability 
(P  11  =  C  3  ?  P  15  =  C  5  r  P  K;  =  C  17  ?). 
These  eight  estates,  which  are  common  to 
father  and  son,  are  widely  sejiarated. 

Two  lists,  comprising  thirty  (extant)  estate 
names,  are  given  in  the  tomb  of  Ptahhetep  I., 
whose  connection  with  Akhethetep  is  discussed 
below.  They  represent,  perhaps,  estates  in  the 
north  and  in  the  south  country  respectively. 
Of  these  only  one  (the  5th  on  the  south  wall) 
can  with  confidence  be  identified  with  any  of 
Akhethe top's,  but  the  1st  on  the  south,  and  the 
2nd,  9th,  and  12th  on  the  north  wall,  may 
represent  N  7,  12,  3  and  S  3.  The  main  part 
of  the  estates  of  Ptahhetep  I.  have  a  more 
important  connection  with  the  list  in  the  tomb 
of  Thy,  no  less  than  ten  or  eleven  having 
count(5rparts  there.  This  number  seems  too 
great  to  be  explained  by  chance  similarities 
of  name.  At  the  same  time  it  should  be  noticed 
that  the  designations  of  these  estates,  which 
also  recur  in  the  property  lists  of  several  other 
families  during  the  Vth  Dynasty,'  are  almost 
all  simple  names  of  products  such  as  might 
naturally  be  given  to  farms.  It  is  suspicious 
that  among  the  many  hundreds  of  estate  names 
ver}"-  few  which  are  complex  enough  to  be 
identified  with  certainty  are  ever  met  with 
again.  In  the  case  of  Tepemankh — Pehenuka — 
Thy — Ptahhetep  I.  we  may  accept  the  trans- 
mission of  property,  since  it  is  supported  by 
other  evidence  of  family  connection.  The  last 
three,  at  least,  pi'obably  inherited  in  direct 
succession. - 


'  Of  these  10,  Pehenuka  (Neferarkara's  reign  ?)  has  5, 
Tepemankh  (Sahura's  ?)  has  4,  and  Khennu  .5  (Mar.,  Mast., 
D  6  and  11;  L.  /)..  ii.  46). 

"  For  further  details  consult  papers  by  Miss  M.  A. 
Murray,  P.S.B.A..  xvii.,  p.  240,  and  Maspero,  ib.,  xii., 
p.  236  ff. 


35.  The  number  of  established  relation- 
ships between  families  buried  at  Saqqareh  is 
so  meagre  that  the  evidence  drawn  from 
similarity  of  names  can  rarely  be  supported 
by  known  relationship  of  descent  or  marriage. 
It  is  unfortunate  that,  following  what  appears 
to  have  been  a  family  custom,  the  walls  of  this 
mastaba  altogether  ignore  the  female  members 
of  the  house.  Interestino;  facts  reorardina;  in- 
heritance  in  the  female  line  might  have  been 
gained  did  we  know  the  families  into  which 
these  high  officials  married  and  gave  in 
marriage.  The  silence  is  perhaps  not  in  favour 
of  such  inheritance,  and  we  see  at  any  rate  that 
a  considerable  share  of  the  family  property 
passed  to  the  eldest  son.  But  iUchethetep  may 
have  had  no  daughters.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
is  surprising  how  scattered  the  estates  are,  and 
so  inconvenient  a  disposition  of  properties 
might  receive  some  explanation  if  there  wei'e  a 
custom  of  seeking  alliances  by  man'iage  with 
the  great  families  of  other  provinces,  and  of 
giving  and  receiving  landed  property  in  dowry. 
Ptahhetep's  estates  are  even  more  widely  dis- 
tributed than  those  of  Akhethete]}.  Sabu  also 
(Mar.,  Mast.,  p.  383)  had  estates  in  at  least  six 
widely  separated  nomes  of  the  Delta.  It  is  still 
more  surprising  that  half  the  family  lands  are 
in  the  extreme  noi'th  of  the  Delta,  and  that 
the  province  of  Memphis  only  contains  one 
of  the  estates.  Can  it  be  that,  while  the 
royal  residence  and  burial-place  were  near 
Memphis,  there  was  a  great  centre  of  govern- 
ment in  the  north,  where  these  ofiicials 
resided  ? 

36.  This  mastaba  then  does  not  encourage 
the  hope  of  learning  much  from  estate-lists. 
The  names  are  so  rarely  met  with  elsewhere  as 
to  suggest  that  the  properties  were  continually 
being  re-named,  either  at  inheritance  or  by 
reverting  to  the  king  and  being  re-distributed 
with  his  name  attached  to  them.  No  less  than 
ten  estates  of  Akhethetep  are  named  after  King 
Assa.     They  cannot  well  have  been    inherited 


DISCUSSIONS    AND    NOTES. 


21 


under  this  title.  The  names  N  6,  10,  11,  lo, 
are  Avritten  witliuut  -V-  in  the  corridor  and  in 
Ptahhetep's  chapel  ;  there  are  two  estates 
(S  4  and  N  5)  named  alike  in  ditlerent  nomes, 
and  two  in  the  same  nome  (N  1  1  and  lo).  So 
that  even  Avhen  two  instances  of  the  name 
occur,  identity  cannot  be  guaranteed.  It  may 
be  indeed  that  this  tomb  oft'ers  the  only  sure 
instance  of  transference  of  property  from  father 
to  son. 


F'/ iiiili/  RelKtioiishipK. 

37.  The  name  Ptahhetep  is  fairly  common 
during  the  Vth  Dynasty,  though  the  presump- 
tion is  that  all  officials  bearing  it  belonged  to 
the  same  family  connection.  Akhethetep  is  a 
much  rarer  name.  The  following  is  a  list  of 
those  buried  at  Saqqareh  ^vho  bear  either  of 
these  names.  Close  relationship  can  hardly  be 
claimed  for  more  than  tlie  last  four. 


Mar.,   Ma^t.,  D  .^  I 
C    7' 
D  (i2 

D  04. 


Ptahhetep  (son  Ptahhetep-ur)  late  Userkaf  (?). 

(    Ptahhetep -desher  )  , 

I    Ptahhetep  (son  Ptahhetep)   )  ^'' 

Ptahlietep  I.  (son  Akhethetep)  Neferarkara  (?)  and  early  Assa. 

f    Akhethetep  I.  (son  Ptahhetep)  ') 

(    Ptahhetep  II.  (sons  P*^^^';;!^^^^^^^^^        ^^''^• 


„  E  17  Akhethetep  II. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  suggestion  (Part  I., 
p.  2)  that  the  Ptahhetep  of  this  mastaba  is  the 
father  of  its  other  occupant  has  Ijeen  reversed. 
The  reasons  for  this  decision  follow. 

38.  It  is  fairly  certain  from  the  titles  and 
property  of  Ptahhetep  I.  (Mar.,  Masf.,  D  (i2) 
that  he  is  closely  connected  with  the  family 
to  which  our  mastaba  belongs.  Ptahhetep  I. 
and  II.  and  Akhethetep  I.  apparently  fall 
Avithin  Assa's  lifetime,  but  as  the  two  latter 
are  both  priests  of  his  pyramid  they  must 
be  23  ut  as  late  in  the  reign  as  possible. 
Ptahhetep  I.  is  eoya  ha,  ta  sab  tha,  titles 
which  he  seems  to  inherit  from  a  still  earlier 
Ptahhetep  (Mar.,  Mad.,  G  7).  Akhethetep 
loses  the  first,  but  preserves  the  second ;  Ptah- 
hetep II.  has  neither.  As  we  have  seen, 
Ptahhetep  I.  seems  to  inherit  by  direct  suc- 
cession from  Thy  estates  which  were  afterwards 
scattered.  For  these  reasons  he  may  be  placed 
first. 


Also  L.  JJ.,  ii.  101-104  (i-j. 


Akhethetep) 


Unas. 


39,  This  jaoint  being  granted,  the  evidence 
suggests  that  Akhethetep,  son  of  Ptahhetep  I., 
is  identical  with  the  official  buried  in  our 
mastaba.  While  Ptahhetep  II.  has  only  one 
estate  which  he  could  have  inherited  from  his 
namesake,  Akhethetep  I.  presents  somewhat 
larger  claims  to  be  his  heir ;  but  the  succession 
to  property  is  small  in  either  case.  The  titles 
also  to  which  Akhethetep  I.  succeeds  comprise 
many  more  of  his  predecessor's  than  do  those 
of  Ptahhetep  II. ;  and  while  the  chief  physician 
Unnefer  appears  in  the  tombs  both  of  Ptah- 
hetep I.  and  Akhethetep,  his  name  does  not 
occur  in  the  S.  chapel.  Since  the  inscriptions 
contain  nothing  decisive,  evidence  of  priority 
mil  naturally  be  sought  in  the  construction  of 
the  mastaba.  If  either  of  the  chapels  was  built 
as  an  afterthought  it  must  rather  be  that  of 
Ptahhetep,  since  the  chambers  on  the  north 
Avould  only  be  constructed  to  serve  the  western 
chapel.  But  in  the  absence  of  any  sufficient 
evidence  we  must  assume  that  both  chapels 
belong  to  the  original  plan.  The  three 
mastabas,  Mar.,  Mast.,  D  62,  63  and  64,  which 


22 


THE    MASTABA    OP    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKHETHETEP. 


are    perhaps    in   close    faniil}-   as   well   as    local 
connection,  have  much  similarity  of  construc- 
tion.    All  are  furnished  with  that  pillared  hall 
which    only    the    wealthiest    could   aftbrd.'      A 
comparison    of   the    plan   of  our  mastaba  with 
that  of  D  62  appears  to  establish  the  primary 
importance  of  the  south  chapel.      When,  how- 
ever,  it  is    remembered  that    the    entrance   to 
our  mastaba   is  on   the   north,  the  situation  is 
reversed.     The  pillared  hall  is  not  entered  from 
the  outside,  as  is  usual,  but  is  approached  by 
a  corridor,  so  as  to  give  it  Avhat  it  lacked,  an 
eastern   entrance.     The   chapel   of  Akhethetep 
thus  corresponds  in  situation  with  the  inscribed 
chamber  of  D  62.     In  any  case  the  principal 
chamber  is  likely  to  be  in  a  direct  line  from 
the    entrance  (so  D  63).     By  the  blocking  of 
the  corridor,  and  the  formation  of  an  eastern 
doorway    to     the     hall,    the     western     chapel 
becomes     the     natural     terminus.       Had     the 
passage  to  the  S.  chapel  been  direct,  as  in  the 
tomb  of  Thy,  the  case  would  have  been  different. 
This  evidence   is  very  strongly  supported   by 
the    decoration   of  the    corridor   in   honour  of 
Akhethetep.      It    is    somewhat    curious     that 
Ptahhetep,    who    seems    less    high    in    position 
than  his  father,  should  have  the  decorated  false 
door  which  Borchhardt  considers  to  be  a  mark 
of  rank.     But  it  is   not    clear  w^hat    evidence 
can  be  drawn  from  the  differences  which  niark 
the  two  burials. 

40.  As  the  name  Akhethetep  is  rare,  it 
is  very  probable  that  the  official  of  that  name 
under  Unas,  who  is  buried  in  another  part  of 
the  necropolis,  is  the  son  of  Ptahhetep  II.  He 
has  eleven  titles  which  his  predecessor  bore, 
thus  strengthening  the  cumulative  evidence  for 
the  order  given  above.  Interesting  also  is  the 
double  burial  recorded  by  Mai-iette  under  C  6 


'  Pilliired  halls  occur  in  tlie  tombs  of  Thy,  who  is  probably 
a  coiiDection;  Kay  (D  19);  Ptahhetep  (C  7);  and  Mera 
(Dakessy,  Le.  Mastaba  de  Mera). 


and   7   (also   in  a  mastaba  with  pillared  hall). 
Here  a  Ptahhetep  is  intei'red  with  his  father  (?) 
Ptahhetep-desher.      He  also  has   a   son  Ptah- 
hetep,  but   as   the    date  of  the  family  is    not 
known  a  connection  can  only  be  hazarded.      It 
is   worth    mentioning   that  the   deformed    cow- 
herd who   is   pictured   in   the   chapel   of  Ptah- 
hetep  {Kant.,   PI.   xxxi.)   appears    also   in   this 
tomb  and  in  that  of  Tepemankh.-^     Neither  can 
we    identify   the    famous    moralist    Ptahhetep 
with  any  of  that  name  Avhose  tomb  has  been 
discovered,  since  the  connection  with  the  royal 
house    to   which    he    lays    claim    is    nowhere 
mentioned.      More    cannot    be    said   than    that 
Ptahhetep  I.  approximately  coincides  in  date, 
and  that  his  tomb,  by  Mariette's  account,  Avould 
do   honour   to  the    highest    in   the  land.      At 
any  rate,  the  author  of  the  proverbs  probably 
belonged  to  the  family,  so  that  we  may  claim 
in  Akhethetep  and  Ptahhetep  two  members  of 
one  of  the  most  exalted  houses  of  the  period, 
which  out  of  its  wealth,  piety,  and  wisdom  has 
made  very  important  additions  to  our  know- 
ledge of  the  attainments  of  the  Old  Kingdom  in 
art  and  the  philosophy  of  life. 


ProiJOiiions  of  tJie  Human  Fif/ure. 

41.  We  see  in  several  parts  of  the  tomb 
the  parallel  red  lines  which  the  artist  drew  at 
proportionate  distances  in  order  that  he  might 
more  easily  and  accurately  sketch  in  a  succes- 
sion of  figures  in  the  same  attitude  (cf.  Pis. 
iv.  and  viii.).  They  are  best  preserved  in  the 
chapel  of  Akhethetep  {r.  PL  xvii.).  The  pro- 
portions in  this  instance  do  not  differ  by 
much  more  than  one  per  cent,  from  those 
observed   in  the    grave    of   Manefer   at   Gizeh,' 


=  L.  D.,  ii.  103.     jMar.,  Mast.,  p.  197. 
'■'  L.  -D.,  Text,  i.,  p.  233,  where  the  measurements  quoted 
are  given. 


DISCUSSIONS    AND    NOTES. 


23 


viz.    (the    length    of  the    foot   being   taken   as 
the  unit) : — 


Sole  to  knee, 
Knee  to  buttock, 
Buttock  to  elbow, 
Elbow  to  armpit,  ^ 

ilrmpit  to  shoulder,  ^ 
Shoulder  to  forehead,  | 
Forehead  to  crown,       ^ 


2  lengths 


1  length 
1 


=  2  lengths 


This  gives  (i  feet  (i.e.  foot-lengths)  as  the 
height  to  the  place  where  hair  commences  on 
the  brow.  A  vertical  guiding  line  is  also 
customarily  drawn  thi'ough  the  figure.  This 
has  not  been  reproduced  in  the  plates. 


(.'olour  Notes. 

42.  All  the  most  valuable  notes  of  colour 
have  been  embodied  in  Mr.  Griffith's  chapter  on 
the  hieroglyphs  in  Part  I.  A  few  additions 
may  be  made. 

The  dresses  of  the  women  bear  traces  of 
green  colouring  in  one  or  two  instances  in 
Pis.  XV.  and  xvi.     The  baskets  of  the  first  two 


figures  in  PI.  xv.  are  painted  in  a  minute 
wicker-work  pattern  of  green  and  yellow.  The 
pin-tailed  ducks  in  the  pile  of  offerings  (Pis. 
xxiv.  and  xxxiv.)  have  red  head  and  throat,  the 
fore-part  of  the  body  blue,  the  hind-part  yellow, 
blue  wings  with  red  transverse  stripes,  blue 
bill,  legs  and  tail  feathers.  The  other  species  of 
bird  depicted  there  has  brown  neck,  body  and 
wings,  and  red  legs,  while  wing  feathers,  bands 
on  tail  and  markings  on  the  body  are  blue. 

It  may  be  noticed  that  the  designs  for 
sculpture  were  not  invariably  drawn  in  uniform 
red  or  black  ink  outline.  Blue,  green  and 
yellow  were  also  employed,  each  object  receiving 
the  colour  most  appropriate  to  it.  A  wash  of 
colour  was  also  sometimes  laid  over  the  whole 
object,  thus  foreshadowing  the  final  scheme  of 
painting.  This  was  the  case  in  the  corridor 
(birds  in  lower  registers  of  PL  v. ;  ships,  PL  x. : 
offerings,  PL  xvii.).  The  scenes  are  framed 
below  by  a  painted  border  of  two  colours 
terminated  by  black  (PL  xvii.),  and  at  the  sides 
(and  top  ?)  by  the  usual  border  of  coloured 
rectangles  within  green  bands.  Traces  of  this 
border  remain  here  and  there,  but  I  have  not 
indicated  it. 


24 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKHETHBTEP. 


NOTES    BY    THE    EDITOE. 


T'ne  Names. 

43.  The  series  of  nome-signs  occurring  in 
the  estate-lists  of  Akhethetep  on  Pis.  iv.,  xiii. 
and  xiv.  are  of  great  interest  as  displaying  well 
the  essential  parts  of  the  badges  and  throwing 
light  on  their  jDictorial  significance.  In  regard 
to  this,  the  late  Ptolemaic  lists,  on  which  our 
knowledge  of  the  symbols  has  hitherto  been 
principally  based,  are  very  unsatisfactory.  In 
some  cases  the  differences  between  the  early  and 
late  forms  of  the  nome-signs  are  so  great  as  to 
render  identification  difi5cult.  For  the  Old 
Kingdom  we  can  supplement  the  Akhethetep 
series  by  others  from  the  Memphite  necropolis, 
viz.  by  that  of  Ptahhetep  {Bam.,  Pis.  xxxiv., 
XXXV. :  see  also  the  coi'rections  to  these  plates 
in  Part  I.,  p.  40,  of  the  ^^resent  work) ;  that  of 
the  Vlth  Dynasty  tomb  of  Sabu  (Mar.,  Ma.^f., 
p.  383,  for  which  Mr.  Davies  has  given  me 
his  notes  of  the  original  sculpture  in  the  Gizeh 
Museum)  ;  and  the  early  IVth  Dynasty  tomb 
of  Methen  (L.  Z).,  ii.  3-7).  The  lists  of  Ptah- 
hetep and  Akhethetep  contain  a  few  nome- 
signs  from  Upper  Egypt,  Ijut  naturally  the 
^  data  which  they  furnish  principally  concern 
Lower  Egypt ;  the  nomes  mentioned  in  the 
tomb  of  Sabu  are  exclusively  within  the  limits 
of  the  northern  countiy.  AVith  regard  to  the 
southern  badges,  a  good  deal  of  material  might 


also  be  gleaned  fi'om  the  tombs  of  Upper 
Egy^Dt ' ;  this  will  not  be  discussed  here,  but 
it  may  be  noted  that  in  the  celebrated  inscrip- 
tion of  Una  from  Abydos  (1.  14)  a  curious  and 
unexplained  group,  obscurely  written,  seems 
to  rejo resent  the  name  of  the  Aphroditopolite 
nome,  the  northei'nmost  of  Upper  Egypt  (see 
World's  Best  Literature,  E(ji/jitliiii  Lifeni- 
ture,  p.  5297).  We  now  have  the  same  group 
drawn  clearly  in  Pis.  iv.,  xiv.,  and  the  bronze 
halberd  head,  harpoon  head,  or  blade,  evidently 
corresponds  to  the  "  knife "  of  the  Aphrodito- 
polite nome  in  the  Ptolemaic  lists  (see  Part  I., 
p.  33,  PL  xviii.,  No.  407).     The  jDeculiar  form 


of  the 


without   the 


group,    written    as    it    is 
usual  hawk-jaerch,  is  paralleled  by  that  of  the 


'  Subjoined  are  badges  of  the  southern  nomes  XX. 
(or  XXI.)  and  XXII.,  froln  the  tomb  of  Khenu-ka  at 
Tehneh.  Thej'  are  copied  from  drawings  kindly  fui'nished 
by  Mr.  George  Fraser.  The  appendage  to  the  ti'ee  apjjears 
here  plainly  as  a  flower. — N.  lie  G.  D. 


NOTES    BY    THE    EDITOH. 


26 


neighbouring   Memphite  nonio,   tlie  tirst    nonie 
of  Lower  Egypt,  also  in  Pis.  iv.,  xiii. 


The    estates    of    Akhethetep     noted    in    the 
sculptures  are  as  follows  : — 


Nome. 

Upper  Egypt     XX.  "  Southern  .liH(?)-tree" 

XXI.  "  Northern  .i/;i(?)-tree  " 

XXII.  "Blade" 

Lower  Egypt  I.  "  White  Wall " 

II.  "  Haunch  " 

III.  "  West " 

VI.  "  Wild  Bull  " 

VII.  "  Harpoon  of  the  Western  Side" 


Pl.  IV. 

Pl. 

XIII. 

Pl 

XIV. 

2 

= 

9 

2 

= 

2 

1 

= 

1 

1 

= 

1 

2 

"•~ 

2 

5 

4 

4 

= 

4 

On  comparing  tlie  lirst  and  the  tifteeuth  of 
the  estate  names  on  Pl.  i\'.  with  the  first  two 
on  Pl.  xiv.,  it  will  be  seen  that  in  Pl.  xiv. 
the  ..L»(?)-tree,  without  further  distinction, 
stands  as  the  nome-badge  for  tAvo  estates 
which  belong  respectively  to  the  northern  and 
southern  divisions  of  that  nome.  Unless, 
therefore,  the  ancient  artist  omitted  some 
groups  by  accident,  the  division  of  the  nome 
into  north  and  south  was  not  always  pre- 
served. We  find  parallels  to  this  amalgamation 
in  the  case  of  other  nomes. 

There  is  still  much  uncertainty  as  to  the 
situation  of  the  nomes  of  Lower  Egypt ;  where 
the  capitals  have  been  identified  fixed  points 
are  gained,  but  the  boundaries  remain  un- 
determined.^ The  accompanying  sketch-map, 
kindly  drawn  for  me  by  Mr.  Davies,  will  give 
some  idea  of  the  relative  situations  of  the 
nomes.  It  is  fairly  certain  that  the  Vlth  and 
Vllth  lay  to  the  Avest  of  the  Uosetta  branch 
of  the  Nile.  The  Vth  was  the  Saite  nome, 
and  lay  on  the  east  of  that  branch ;  while  the 
IVth,  apparently,  was  immediately  to  the 
south  of  the  Vth.  Hence  it  is  evident  that 
Akhethetep's  recorded  possessions  lay  entirely 
to  the   west  of  the  Canopic    branch,  from    the 


'   Ou  this  question  see  especially  J.  de  Roua^,  GeotjriqjJne 
Ancienue  de  la  Basse  ^ijijple. 


sea  to  the  head  of  the  Delta,  continuing  also 
southward  through  the  Memphite  nome  ("  White 
Wall")  into  Upper  Egypt  beyond  the  Faiyum, 
reaching  the  nome  of  Heracleopolis  (the 
"  southern  Aiih-ivQn''). 


Z,^       VII 

0. 

IViiD  Bull-' 

^ 

. 

Ml 

"■•■■.. 

IVE^T 

Mb«. 

.>','ll 

"'., 

If  we  turn  to  the  list  of  the  Ptahhetep 
estates,  we  find  that  his  property  Avas  more 
scattered  ;  unfortunately  some  of  the  signs  are 
lost  or  too  much  injured  for  identification. 


26 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKHETHETEP. 


Nome. 

Upper  Eg.  XVI.  "Oryx"  1 

XX.  "  Southern  .L/f-trec  "  o 

XXI.  "  Xortheru  ditto  "  1 

XXII.  "  Blade "  .  ' 

I 

Lower  Eg.         I.  "  White  Wall"  ' 

II.  "Haunch"  1 

III.  "  West "  1 

VI.  "Wild  Bull"  l,2,ov?^ 

VII.  "  Harpoon  "  3 

IX.  "  Reigning  King  "  1  or  '2 

X.  "Black  Bull"  lor? 

XII.  "Cow  and  Calf"  1  or  2 

Here  we  seem  to  trace  two  large  properties 
in  Lower  Egypt  as  belonging  to  Ptahhetep, 
one  in  the  western  nomes  IL,  III.,  VI.,  VII. — 
which  will  be  seen  by  a  glance  at  the  accom- 
panying majj  to  form  a  continuous  chain — the 
other  in  the  centre  of  the  Delta  in  nomes 
IX.-XII.  The  estate  in  the  Oryx  nome  in 
Upper  Egypt  was  widely  separated  from  all 
the  rest. 

The  estates  of  Sabu  were  much  scattered 
through  Lower  Egypt ;  they  lay  in  the  fol- 
lowing nomes : — 

II.  "Haunch." 

III.  "  West." 

VI.  "  Wild  Bull "  (or  XL,  Ox  ?). 

XIII.  "  Crook  and    Shuttle  -    of  the  East " 
( Heliojjolitan). 

XV.  "Ibis." 

(?)  "  East." 


'  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  symbols  of  these  two  nomes, 
situated  on  each  side  of  the  division  line  between  Upper 
and  Lower  Egypt,  are  figwed  in  Akhethetep,  not  on  the 
usual  hawk-perch,  but  on  a  sign  resembling  iim  (Part  I., 
figs.  206,  215).  In  the  present  instance  the  distinctive 
badge  is  lost,  and  only  the  supporting  sign  remains. 

-  I  I  iu  this  name  should  perhaps  be  read  Aq^  w'-iirt, 
"the  ruler  of  the  evening  sun-boat,"  referring  to  Atum,  the 
god  of  Heliopolis. 


The  first  three  nomes  were  continuous.  The 
"  East "  nome — in  name  corresponding  to  the 
Ilird — probably  lay  beyond  the  Heliopolitan 
(XIII.)  on  the  eastern  border. 

Methen  (L.  D.,  ii.  o-7)  mentions  estates  or 
offices  held  by  him  in  all  parts  of  Lower 
Egypt  :— 

II.     "  Haunch." 

ILL     "  West.' 

IV.  ^ 
^,j"  Target." 

VI.     "  Wild  Bull." 
VII.      "  Harpoon." 
XL  (?)  "  Ox  "  (perhaps  on  PI.  v.). 
XVI.     "  Dolphin." 
(?)     "  Crocodile." 
(?)     "  East." 

Most  of  these  nomes  again,  namely  II.-VIL, 
are  on  the  west,  where  they  form  a  solid  block 
on  the  map  of  Lower  Egypt,  the  "  Target " 
nome  lying  on  the  E.  side  of  the  Rosetta 
branch.  The  "  Dolphin  "  nome  is  much  further 
to  the  E.,  and  separate.  The  situation  of  the 
"  Ox "  nome  is  very  imcertain.  As  to  the 
last  two  nomes  in  the  above  list,  viz.  the 
"  Crocodile  "  and  "  East  "  nomes,  they  must 
have  been  contiguous,  for  they  ai^e  associated  in 
one  title  of  Methen,  just  as  is  the  case  with 
the  "  Target "  and  "  West "  nomes,  and  the 
"Target,"  "Wild  Bull"  and  "Haunch"  nomes 
in  other  titles  of  his.  Probably,  therefore,  the 
"  Crocodile  ''  as  well  as  the  "  East "  nome  itself 
represents  a  nome  in  the  east  of  Lower  Egypt, 
i.e.  VIII.  or  one  of  those  numbered  XVII.-XX. 
in  the  lists. 

Turning  to  Upper  Egypt,  in  Lepsius'  publi- 
cation of  the  tomb  of  Methen  (L.  D.,  ii.  6),  the 
nome  of  the  "Jackal "  (XVII.)  and  "  The  Nome  " 
are  mentioned.  We  have  learned  from  Pro- 
fessor Petrie's  excavations  that  the  latter  was 
the  C)ld  Kingdom  name  of  the  Teutyrite  nome 
(VL)  ;  po'ssibly  it  denotes  the  same  thing 
here. 


NOTES    BY    THE    EDITOR. 


27 


Altogether,    as   the   following    table    shows, 
we  now  know  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 


nome-signs  of  Lower  Egypt  as  figured  in  the 
sculptures  of  the  Old  Kingdom  : — 


I. 

"  White  Wall."                        Memphite 

TL 

"  Haunch."                               Letopolite 

III. 

"  West."                                    Libyan  (?) 

IV. 
V. 

'•  Southern  )  „        ,      ^  .,  (  Prosopite  ) 
"Northern  P^^^S^*^-^)-    1  Saite          1 

VI. 

"  Wild  Bull."                           Gynaecopolite 

VII. 

"  Harpoon  (of  the  Western  Side)."     Metelite,  &c. 

VIII. 

"  Harpoon  of  the  East."         Heroopolite  (Wady  Tumilat) 

IX. 

"  Reigning  King."                   Busirite 

X. 

"  Black  Bull."                          Athribite 

XI. 

"  Domestic  Bull."                     Pharbaethite  (?) 

XII. 

"  Cow  and  Calf."                      Sebennyte 

XIII. 

'■  Crook  and  Shuttle  (of  the  East)."     Heliopolite 

XIV. 

"  Beginning  of  the  East."       Sethroite 

XV. 

••  Ibis."                                      Hermopolite 

XVI. 

'•  Dolphin."                                Mendesian 

XVII. 

"  Joining  of  the  Throne(?)."   Diospolite 

XVIII. 

•'  Northern     )     ,^,  ., ,  .,    (     Bubastite 

o     ,1            I     Child.      1     _.     -, 
"Southern     J                    ^     lanite 

XIX. 

XX. 

''  Triangle."                              Arabia 

(?) 

''  Crocodile." 

CO 

"  East." 

Meth. 

Akh. 

Pth. 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

(?) 

X 

X 

X 

X 

Sab. 


The  distinctive  symbols  observable  on  monu- 
ments of  various  ages  in  the  badges  of  the  Vlth 
and  the  Xlth  nomes  seem  to  refer  to  the  wild 
and  the  domesticated  animal  respectively,  the 
Q^,  f^-^^  or  n  of  the  Vlth  nome  indicating  the 
desert  and  so  what  is  wild,  while  the  O  in 
the  badge  of  the  Xlth  nome  refers  to  the 
counting  of  the  domestic  herds.  rN/^  and  O 
also  play  on  the  names  of  the  capitals,  Khasut 
and  Heseb. 

ylvi  Additloiiiil  HienK/lypli. 

44.  Mr.  Davies  calls  my  attention  to  an 
interesting  hieroglyph  which  escaped  the  notice 
of  both  of  us  in  preparing  the  text  and  plates  of 
Part  I.    It  is  the  sparrow  "^^  on  PI.  xxv.,  where, 


behind  the  first  figure,  avc  have  the  legend :  "His 
great  (■^=-)  name  is  Seshem-nefer,  his  little  (^^) 
name  is  Maui."  The  sign  is  rarely  found  in 
inscriptions  of  the  Old  Kingdom.  It  probably 
represents  a  sparrow,  a  despicable,  small,  worth- 
less and  mischievous  bird.  Its  employment  in 
long  texts  and  papyri  as  determinative  of  words 
of  evil,  smallness,  want,  &c.,  is  very  common. 
In  formal  inscriptions  there  is  little  occasion  for 
it,  hence  its  rarity.  Here,  as  generally  in 
inscriptions,  it  is  word-sign  for  the  adj.  «r, 
"little."  To  fix  the  word-sign  value  see  I'ap. 
D'Orhineu,  ii.  5. 

In  PI.  xi.  the  title  of  the  men  pouring  out 
wine  contains  a  peculiar  and  doubtful  sign  that 
resembles  some  forms  of 


28 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKHETHETEP. 


45,      LIST    OF    THE    OFFICIALS    OF    AKHETHETEP.' 


15- 


1f7^ 


\t^ 


Q 


"^k^W 


Seshemnefer  * 

v.,  xiv.,  xix.,  xxxii. 

Akhethenem 

v.,   XXV., t   P.  xxxv.h. 

Kaemthenent  * 

X. 

Rekeh  * 

X. 

Aau  * 

xxvi.,   P.  xxxii.,  xxxvi. 

(?) 

xxii. 

Seshemnefer 

V. 

Apa  * 

V. 

Seshemnefer 

v.,  xix. 

Akhethetep-methetha 

xviii. 

Akhethetep 

xviii.,  xxvi. 

,  Upemnefert 

xix.,  xxvi.jt  P.  xxxiv.t 

Ptahsheps 

xxvi. 

Akhethenem 

xxvii. 

Thefu 

xxvii. 

Imhetej) 

xviii.,  xxvi.t 

Ptalihetep 

XX.,  xxxiii.t 

I'tahneferkhuu 

xxvii.,  P.  xxxiii./>. 

Ptahhetep-adu 

xxxii. 

Nefershemem 

XX. 

Ptahhetep  (son) 

xxxi.,  xxvi.,  xxxiii.t 

LJ 
1 

Ptahkekher 

XX. 

'  An   asterisk  implies   the   additional   title    'fl';    f  that  there  is  a   slight   variation.      P.  refers  to   the   plates   in 
liaiiiessi'iiiii,  Egyptian  Kesearch  Account. 


LIST    OF    THE    OFFICIALS    OF    AKHBTHETEP, 


29 


Pli 


] 


1: 


n 


-J  O    •=' 


^ 


-mi^ 


+  ^^ 


■%^^_ 


■^ 


<e< 


I 


UP! 


\^ 


^ 


Hershepses 

xxxiii. 

Seshemnefer 

xxvii. 

Kathesu 

xxxiii. 

Senb  (?) 

iv.tr. 

Akhethetep  (?) 

xxxi.,  P.  xxxvi. 

Rekeh  * 

V. 

Herunefer  * 

v.,    XXV. 

Anpiihetep 

XXX. 

Akhetarna  (?) 

X. 

Ptahhetep  (son) 

vi.,  ix.,  xviii.,  xx.,  xiii.,  xiv.,  xxxiii. f 

Senezemal) 

xxvi.,  xxxi. 

Anpuneferuan 

xxvi. 

Ptaliankliav 

xxvi. 

Akhetuv  (?) 

v.,  cf.  P.  xxxv./*. 

Akhethes 

XXV. 

Kanefer 

xxxii. 

Seshemnefer  * 

ix. 

Kaemrehu  * 

xix.,  xxvii. t 

Hershepses 

xviii. 

Unennefer 

xviii. 

Thefu 

XX. 

Ateta 

xxxiii. 

Anba 

xxvi. 

Unennefer 

xix. 

Heba  * 

xxxii. 

Adu* 

xxxii. 

Sebekhetep 

xi. 

Ptahsabu 

xi. 

Seshemnefer 

xxxiii. 

30 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKHETHETEP. 


^®  "=  1  i 


171 


(Xo  title) 


Ahauk 

xxxiii. 

Ptahhetep 

V. 

Bunefer 

V. 

Akhetarna 

viii.jt   xxvii. 

lOinemenankh  (?) 

viii. 

Akhethetep 

XXV. 

Akhethen 

xxii.,  P.  xxxvi. 

Kaemthenent 

V. 

Thefu  (?) 

xxvii. 

Akhetkhuna  (?) 

V. 

Mehu 

Akhethetep 

xxvii.,  xxxii.  (?) 

Seshemnefer 

xxiv.,  xiv. 

Bakhuna 

xxiv. 

Rekeh  (?) 

XXV. 

Shesthef 

xxiv. 

Kednes 

XXV. 

Seshemnefer-Maui 

XXV. 

Ptahhetep-Thefu 

xxvi. 

Thefu 

xxvii. 

With  the  great  change  in  the  properties  held  by  Ptahhetep  there  would  naturally  be  a 
corresponding  change  of  serfs  and  officials.  Of  the  fifty  names  in  Ptahhetep's  chapel,  twenty-one 
are  common  to  both  records,  but  of  these  only  six  have  the  same  titles.  The  official 
Seshemnefer-Thefu  {BamcsseKvi,  PI.  xxxii.)  may  be  either  the  Seshemnefer  of  Akhethetep  or 
his  son  Thefu  (PL  xxiv.). 


31 


46.      INDEX    TO    HIER(3GLYPHS    IN    THIS    VOLUME   WHICH    ARE    FIGURED 

IN    PART    I. 


Plate,  Part  11. 

No.  of  Hieroglyph, 

Part  I. 

Plate,  Part  IT 

V, 

323. 

xxii. 

vi. 

t;,  32,  84,   189,  225, 

226,  230, 

xxiii. 

331,  370. 

xxiv. 

vii. 

105,  384. 

viii. 

19,  40,  67,  298. 

XXV. 

X. 

102,  192,  240,  397. 

xxvi. 

xi. 

186,  187,  215. 

xxvii. 

xiii. 

5,  88,  89,  102,  372. 

xxviii. 

xvi. 

152,  178,  20G,  213, 

248,  260, 

304,  337,  407. 

xxix. 

xvii. 

Milk  vessel,  PI.  xvi. 

xviii. 

68,  238,  281,    326, 

400,    401, 

xxxii. 

404,  408,  409,  41(; 

xxxiii. 

xix. 

168. 

xxxiv. 

XX. 

78,  112,  283. 

No.  of  Hieroglyph.  Part  I. 
289. 

124,  338. 

33,    159,    256,    263,  269,  319, 

345. 
271,  320. 
24,  181. 
342,  354. 
164,  221,  232,  387,  402,  403, 

406,  411. 
11,   116,  229,    241,    300,    339, 

369,  395,  398. 
16,  392. 

46,  196,  272,  280. 
126,  130,  346. 


32 


THE    MA.STABA    OF    PTAHHETBP    AND    AKHETHETEP. 


47.   CROSS  INDEX  TO  SAME  FOR  USE  WITH  PART  I. 


No.  of  Fig. 
Parti. 

Plate, 
Part  n. 

Position. 

No.  of  Pig. 
Part  I. 

Plate, 
P.art  n. 

Position. 

5 

xiii. 

reg.  4. 

190 

xxxiii. 

reg.  2. 

6 

vi. 

col.  1,  2nd  fig. 

206 

xvi. 

2nd  nome-sign. 

11 

xxix. 

last  col. 

213 

xvi. 

5th  name. 

16 

xxxii. 

reo-.  2,  last  fiy. 

215 

xi. 

lower  row. 

19 

\iii. 

reg.  1. 

221 

xxviii. 

col.  1. 

24 

xxvi. 

reg.  2. 

225 

vi. 

col,  2. 

32 

vi. 

col.  1. 

226 

vi. 

son's  titles. 

?.3      . 

xxiv. 

list  of  offerings. 

229 

xxix. 

col.  4. 

40 

viii. 

reg.  2,  fig.  1. 

230 

vi. 

col.  2. 

46 

xxxiii. 

reg.  1. 

232 

xxviii. 

col.  2. 

67 

viii. 

reg.  2. 

238 

xviii. 

col.  3. 

68 

xviii. 

.  col.  1. 

240 

X. 

lower  row. 

78 

XX. 

col.  1. 

241 

xxix. 

col.  5. 

84 

vi. 

son's  title. 

248 

xvi. 

1st  name. 

88  1 

89  ) 

xiii. 

reg.  3. 

250 
260 

xxiv. 
xvi. 

reg.  6. 
2nd  name. 

102 

X. 

lower  row. 

263 

xxiv. 

list  of  offerings. 

105 

vii. 

reg.  3. 

269 

xxiv. 

list  of  offerings. 

112 

XX. 

col.  1. 

271 

XXV. 

reg,  1. 

116 

xxix. 

col.  4. 

272 

xxxiii. 

reg.  2. 

124 

xxiii. 

reg.  3. 

280 

xxxiii. 

reg.  2. 

126 

xxxiv. 

under  table. 

281 

xviii. 

col.  1. 

130 

xxxiv. 

under  table. 

283 

XX. 

son's  titles. 

134 

Bamesseum,  xxxiv. 

289 

xxii. 

reg,  2. 

152 

xvi. 

upper  row. 

298 

viii. 

reg.  1, 

159 

xxiv. 

list  of  offerings. 

800 

xxix. 

col.  0. 

162 

xiii. 

reg.  4. 

304 

xvi. 

upper  row. 

164 

xxviii. 

col.  3. 

319 

xxiv. 

list  of  offerings 

168 

xix. 

reg.  5. 

320 

XXV. 

reg.  1. 

178 

xvi. 

3rd  nome-sign. 

323 

V. 

reg.  1. 

181 

xxvi.   , 

reg.  1. 

326 

xviii. 

reg.  2. 

186 

xi. 

reg.  2. 

331 

,    vi. 

col.  1. 

187 

xi. 

reg.  1. 

337 

xvi. 

2nd  nome-sign. 

189 

vi. 

col.  1. 

338 

xxiii. 

reg,  2. 

192 

X. 

2nd  nome-sign. 

339 

xxix. 

col,  3. 

CROSS    INDEX    TO    HIEKOGLYPHS. 


3:5 


No.  of  Fit.-. 
Part  I. 

Plate, 
Part  11. 

Position 

No.  of  F 
Part  I. 

g- 

Plate, 
Part  II. 

Position 

342 

xxvii. 

reg.  2. 

400 

xviii. 

col.  4. 

U5 

xxiv. 

list  of  ofterings. 

401 

xviii. 

col.  5. 

346 

xxxiv. 

list  of  ofterings. 

402 

xxviii. 

col.  1. 

354 

xxvii. 

reg.  1. 

403 

xxviii. 

col.  1. 

309 

xxix. 

col.  (i. 

404 

xviii. 

col.  4. 

370 

vi. 

sou's  title. 

40G 

xxviii. 

col.  2. 

372 

xiii. 

reg.  3. 

407 

xvi. 

upper  row 

381 

XX. 

col.  3. 

408 

xviii. 

col.  2. 

384 

vii. 

reg.  3. 

409 

xviii. 

col.  4. 

387 

xxviii. 

col.  4. 

410 

xviii. 

col.  3. 

392 

xxxii. 

reg.  2. 

411 

xxviii. 

col.  3 

39.') 
397 

xxix. 

X. 

col.  4. 
lower  row. 

vessel, 
VI  xvi. 

xvii. 

reg.  2, 

398 

xxix. 

col.  4. 

34 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AND    AKHETHBTEP. 


48.      NOTES    ON    THE    PLATES. 


Frontispiece.  I  am  indebted  for  this  photo- 
graph to  the  kindness  of  Chas.  Lord,  Esq.,  of 
Manchester.  It  is  not  from  the  original,  but 
from  a  cast  taken  from  a  tin-foil  squeeze.  The 
head  is  that  drawn  on  PI.  vi. 

Plate  I.  Plan.  For  the  sake  of  appearance 
the  outline  of  the  mastaba  is  given  in  unbroken 
lines,  although  the  outer  walls  were  laid  bare 
only  at  tlie  entrance  and  corners,  and  in  such 
other  places  as  suggested  irregularity  or  were 
specially  easy  of  access.  The  outer  (base)  line 
is  of  course  calculated  fi'om  the  batter  of  the 
walls.  The  fallen  stela,  which  formed  the  end 
wall  of  the  T-chamber,  has  been  restored  (so 
in  PL  ii.).  The  coarser  hatching  represents 
rough  walls.  The  remaining  architraves  of 
the  pillared  hall  have  been  added  for  con- 
venience. At  the  N.W.  corner  the  S.  wall  of 
the  next  mastaba  is  indicated, 

Plate  II.  Sections,  dc.  The  mastaba  was 
probably  somewhat  higher,  possibly  much 
higher,  than  the  minimum  given  here.  The 
dotted  line  shows  the  depth  of  the  excavation 
on  the  section.  The  pavement  level  was 
reached  in  the  S.  chapel  and  its  antechamber, 
in  the  jDassage  fi-om  the  W.  chapel  to  the  N. 
chamber,  and  in  the  corridor. 


'  I  have  myself  prepared  the  whole  of  the  drawings  for 
the  lithographer,  in  the  hope  of  securing  the  greatest 
po.ssible  accuracy  for  the  reproductions. 


Plate  III.  (1)  The  entrance  to  the  mastaba. 
(2)  Cattle  on  the  tJiresMng-floor,  from  the  W. 
wall  of  the  corridor ;  the  finest  work  in  the 
tomb.     See  PL  viii. 

Plate  IV.  Key-plate  to  the  corridor  walls, 
comprising  Pis.  v.  to  ix.  on  the  W.,  and  Pis.  x. 
and  xi.  on  the  E.  wall. 

Plate  V.  The  "  servants  of  the  hi  "  bring 
tlie  produce  of  the  marsh  lands.  The  last  six 
figures  in  the  two  lower  registers  are  not 
moulded,  but  only  roughly  cut  out  round  the 
ink  design. 

Plate  VI.  Tlie  Vizier  AliJiethetep  and  his 
son  receiving  offerings.  The  first  four  lines  of 
Ptahhetep's  titles  are  roughly  cut. 

Plate  VII.  Harvest  scenes :  reaping,  carry- 
ing and  ivinnoioing.     The  vertical  column   and 


the  third  register  are    in    ink   only, 
work. 


Coarser 


Plate  VIII,  (1)  Harvest  scenes:  threshing 
and  stacliing.  The  vertical  column  and  lower 
register  are  in  ink  only.  Above  the  figures  at 
either  end  only  the  first  ass's  head  and  the 
drove  of  cows  are  finished  work,  but  the  latter 
is  about  as  perfect  a  piece  of  delicate  sculpture 
in  low  relief  as  Egyptian  art  affords. 

(2)  Tlie  fowler'' s  net.  Servants.  Two  ink 
designs.     For  their  places  see  PL  iv. 


NOTES    ON    THE    PLATES. 


35 


Plate  IX.  AJ^hrlbftep  and  his  son  iralchinr/ 
the  hiii-resf,  lahoiir.  Only  tlie  two  figures  are 
finished.     The  rest  is  in  ink. 

Plate  X.  Women  refresentinii  the  estates  of 
the  deeeased  in  seven  2^1'ovinces  of  Egypt  (con- 
tinued on  PL  xi.).  The  figures  are  roughly 
cut  and  unmoulded.  The  ships  above  are  the 
relics  of  a  design  in  red  ink.  For  the  re- 
mainder see  PI.  iv. 

Plate  XI.  Boijs  and  tetliered  calves.  Sforaije 
of  wine.  Roughly  blocked  out ;  the  extreme 
left  in  ink  only. 

Plate  XII.  (1)  The  ehapel  of  Akhethetejj. 
The  photograph,  taken  from  near  point  D  on 
the  plan  (PL  i.),  shows  the  present  ruin  of 
the  tomb,  and  the  extent  to  which  the  stones, 
which  are  here  seen  encumbering  the  chamber, 
have  been  restored  to  their  places  in  Pis,  xxiv. 
and  xxxiv. 

(2)  The  N.IV.  corner  of  the  pillared  hill, 
seen  from  the  S.E.  The  doorway  to  the 
chapel  (seen  from  the  other  side  in  the  photo- 
graph above),  the  uncut  pillar,  and  two  of  the 
three  architrave  stones  which  still  remain 
undisturbed,  are  comprised.  The  photograph 
scarcely  does  justice  to  the  marvel  by  which 
the  broken  stone  remains  in  place,  and  even 
supports  the  weight  of  passers  by  above. 

Plates  XIII.  and  XIV.  The  labours  of  the 
marsh  lands.  The  East  wall,  being  now  pro- 
tected by  a  roof  only  at  its  extreme  ends,  has 
suffered  greatly  in  its  upper  parts.  The  scene 
above  the  doorway  has  been  roughly  restored 
by  means  of  dotted  lines.  The  work  appears 
rough  and  the  stone  bad  ;  but  as  both  rapidly 
improve  towards  the  bottom  and  in  protected 
parts,  the  inferior  appearance  is  probably  due 
mostly  to  weathering. 


Plates  XV.  and  XVI.  rtohhelep  receires 
thr  tribute  of  the  fandly  estates,  Sfc.  (enlargement 
of  scenes  from  the  last  plates).  The  ends  of 
the  lower  register,  being  protected  by  the  roof, 
retained  a  good  deal  of  colour.  The  work  in 
PL  xvi.  is  excellent ;  that  in  PL  xv.  much 
inferior. 

Plate  XVII.  Farm-yard  scenes  :  presenta- 
tion of  ojferinijs.  The  Avail  has  suffered  greatly 
from  incrustation  and  damp.  The  figures  to 
the  right  of  the  doorway  are  only  preparatory 
designs  in  coloured  inks.  The  dotted  lines 
represent  red  lines  laid  down  by  the  draughts- 
man to  give  him  the  prescribed  proportions  of 
the  figures. 

Plates  XVIII.  and  XIX.  Akhethetep, 
attended  by  his  son  and  officials,  inspects  the 
tribute  of  antelopes.  Some  figures  in  the  third 
and  fourth  registers  have  been  left  untouched 
by  the  sculptor.  For  the  colouring  of  several 
hieroglyphs  in  the  titles  see  Part  I.,  PL  xviii. 
The  departure  from  the  convention  as  to 
shading  in  these  and  Pis.  xxii.,  xxiii.  has  no 
significance. 

Plates  XX.  and  XXI.  Similar  inspection 
of  sacrificial  cattle. 

Plates  XXII.  and  XXIII.  Funeral  cere- 
monies. Dragging  shrines,  and  cutting  up 
victims.  A  small  hole  reveals  the  position  of 
the  serdab. 

Plate  XXIV.  Key-pbite  of  the  N.  Wall 
(including  Pis.  xxv.-xxvii.).  The  upper  part 
of  this  wall  is  broken  down  in  almost  pre- 
cisely the  same  manner  as  the  opposite  wall 
{v.  PL  xii.).  The  inscriptions  on  four  fallen 
stones  are  here  replaced  approximately  in  their 
original  position,  showing  that  the  missing 
space  contained  offerings  in  four  registers,  the 
list  of  the  same,  and  the  titles  of  the  deceased. 

D  2 


36 


THE    MASTABA    OF    PTAHHETEP    AKD    AKHETHETEP. 


Plates  XXV.  to  XXVII.  Offiriah  pre- 
senting  (jifts  (repetition  on  a  larger  scale  from 
]'l.  XX iv.).  Here  and  there  the  name  of  the 
official  has  not  been  cut,  but  remains  in  ink 
on  a  tablet  of  unsmik  stone.  The  sculpture 
is  very  finely  executed. 

Platks  XXVIII.  AND  XXIX.  Remains  of 
great  monolithic  stela  (representing  the  door- 
way by  which  the  spirit  of  the  dead  entered 
the  room).  It  formed  the  end  of  the  chamber 
(now  overthrown).  The  upper  half  has  been 
broken  away,  but  the  two  fragments  of  it  here 
shoAvn  Avere  found  in  the  dehris.  The  mark  of 
interrogation  over  the  inscription  on  the  lintel 
in  PI.  XX ix.  applies  only  to  the  last  three  signs 


of  the  word  maat,  which  are  now  eifaced.  I 
owe  this  rectification  to  the  kindness  of  Dr. 
Schiifer,  who  visited  the  tomb  in  order  to  set 
my  doubts  at  rest. 

Plates  XXX.  to  XXXIII.  Officials  present^ 
iiig  gifts.  (For  relative  position  see  PL  xxxiv.) 
Here  and  there  a  name  is  only  inscribed  in  red 
ink  on  the  sunk  background. 

Plate  XXXIV.  Keij-plate  of  th,'  S.  Wat  I 
(including  the  last  four  plates).  The  inscrip- 
tions on  seven  fallen  stones  are  incorporated. 
The  hieroglyphs  are  represented  in  solid  black 
only  for  the  sake  of  clearness. 


Ptahhetep. 


PLAN    OF    MASTABA. 


Plate  I. 


'    '.  '    ■    '7'—^ 


-aifi-t 


Ptahhetep  II, 


SECTIONS   OF 


1.  SECTION  ON  A.B. 


2.  SECTION  ON   CD. 


I 


I 

J 


/    t      ■"" 


■A 
f 


i 


D 


3.  SECTION  ON  G.H.I.K  L.M. 


I 


^///-^J 


^ 


Sca/e  l-.m  (S  ire.  «o  the  foot) 


/lASTABA,   Etc. 


Plate  II 


2      i 


1 


E/VT/fANCE      TO     r/f£-     MASTABA. 


f/mnt    at     S  Jvtsf ) 


1. 


s.s. 

PIL/AR  . 

h" 

*./ 

s' 

/ 

"  \ 

1 

!■  ■?   ; 

N 

.,/ 

«/ 

f 

S£cr/i7/v 

7^ 


^£:&ArE    .-N    ANGLE     Pf" 


If- 

■4. 


4.  SECTION  ON   E.F. 


PtahKietep  II 


ENTRANCE    TO    THE    MASTABA 


Plate  II 


■■4fc^ 


'M 


■^  AA^^m 


I'li-'l.itYi'ii^  ^.li/ji:.    Geneve. 


CATTLE    ON    THE    THRESHING-FLOOR 


Ptahhetep  II. 


CORRl 


/M 


I IV,        I 


DOORWAY  TO 
PILLARED   HALL 


-,o 

^ 

^ 

^ 

f= 

■&■■ 

Li:' 

/ . 

tZ 

m 

^ 
ji\i 

tzj    . .  ?  ■' 

s 


s^UlM'^^^^ 


WEST 


H'v- 


-^-,, l^i/A  l^efif_t^3^":'^ 


'rTVV\\r'  ,.V\ 


/  "c/;>c  x^Kl:^;'v^  <^  Jv)  '^'^  t^  --  j'^t---rdi^'  rX-rVr^-^//  iW>^'A^  ' 


Scale  1 :  16 


EAST 


Plate  IV. 


^o^^^Tm^h^m..^^'"^^^^^ 


i-» 


P:(^i.ci.mL4-^'f2 


ilJ/  I 


^T 


^r 


^   - 

DOORWAY  TO 
N    CHAMBER 


^LL. 


T* — 


t    i^ 


/? 


■'L^ 


;K' 


El  I 
/il 


'v\W' 


it( 


''      I 


t 


DOORWAY  TO 
E.  CHAMBER 


ALL. 


Ptahhetep  II. 


CORRIDOF 


Im 


Scale  1 :  4 


SERVANTS    Wr 


\N.    WALL. 


Plate  V. 


OFFERINGS. 


HI 

o 
u. 


LU 

h- 
UJ 
I 
h- 
liJ 
I 

< 


Ptahhetep  II. 


CORRIDOR,    ^ 


Scale  1 :  4 


HARVEST    SCENE 


WALL. 


Plate  VII 


Upper  Part). 


Ptahhetep  II. 


CORRIDO 


HARVEST    SCENE 


>^ 


'b:  t 


XNN 


\\^"^ 


^ 


Sca/e  i .-  4 


INK 


W.    WALL. 


Plate  VIII. 


^ 


»V 'jV  ^,\  ^^ 


Completion). 


)ESIGNS. 


UJ 

t- 
< 


< 


O 

9 

a: 
on 
o 
o 


^\^l 


S' 


^ 


I  ['n 


{'({ 


VI 


K^ 


J 


V 


<c 


</ 


c= 


^ 


o  i/-  ^'i  r  ( 

1*        ^  ^     ' '   11  I 


UJ 

q: 

g 
u. 

w 

UJ 

I- 
LU 
I 
h- 
lU 
X 

ili 
< 


Ptahhetep  II. 


CORRIDOR. 


\ 


% 


■•••:/ 


I 


// 


?<\ 


y 


yy' 


'/•.... 


/•// ' 


-f- 


ill/      //... 


\     \ 


'•A'. 


%     ^ 


^ 


Scale  1:5 


WOMEN    REPRESENTING   THI 


AST    WALL. 


Plate  X. 


■■■Ii\ 


// 


!/  U!) 


.#•■ 


■V 


/^), 
w 


li 


'If 

;■■/ 


11 


ESTATES    OF    THE    DECEASED. 


Hi 

h 
< 


_J 
< 


H 
CO 

< 


01 

o 
9 

a: 
on 
o 
o 


a. 

UJ 

I- 

Ul 

I 
I 
< 

Q. 


Q 

Z 
UJ 

I 
h- 
o: 
o 


Ptahhetep  II 


THE    WESTERN    CHAPEL 


Plate  XII 


-'•■  -   'L 


--    •-  '■■•'-,  r. •■5:.-~'?:x  ^ 


'"'S 


/'A-./    /.,  ,.    ,Sl  I.I-.     („■«.■,.-. 


THE    PILLARED    HALL 


Ptahhetep 


CHAPEL    OF 


ii^^^~.<m 


"^%   & 


"15 


/,  \ 


ni\ 


^^  7' 


i:::^ 


m^ip  [i^nt^-d  ^i^  .111- 


o(@) 


EAST    WALU 


Scale  1:8 


ETHETEP. 


Plate  XIII 


-EFT    HALF. 


Ptahhetep  II. 


CHAPEL    OF    AKI- 


V^ 


•=^. 


A 


Jl 


.if-;-.  "- 


^   •:>^r^:.-a^^ 


-Jr:  ^   t 


CV 


^A 


\r\^y}7 


Scale  1:8 


EAST    WALL.   Rl 


lETEP. 


Plate  XIV. 


HALF. 


Ptahhetep  II. 


pjlrA2JTy 


THE    ESTATES    A 


Scale  1 :  4 


i\KHETHETEP. 


Plate  XV. 


)    ANGLER    (from  East  Wall). 


Ptahhetep  II. 


CHAPEL    OF 


THE    ESTATES    AND 


Scale  1:4 


KHETHETEP. 


Plate  XVI. 


sHER    (from  East   Wall). 


> 

X 


< 

a. 


a. 

LU 

h- 
LU 
I 
I- 
UJ 

X 
< 

O 

_l 

LU 
Q. 
< 

I 

o 


UJ 

H 
Ul 

I 
I 
< 


^  (llLJ"-cn 


UJ 

< 

I 
O 


o 

I- 

UJ 

O 
< 
w 
w 
< 

Q. 


< 


< 

m 

I 
I- 

o 

z 


L  ^' 


V^,'^ 


Q, 


"f^^aIt=¥M 


\     %^ 


n 


Trr^' 


I 3 


H) 


v^ 


A  '1 


{V]ll III!       ~jj] 

1 n 


iC=--" 


^yi    KiaLri) 


3; 


>  ^^, 


)/^   Ip 


rrt^ 


n    Q 


o  -^^ 


O 


^^ 


'S-^ 


/I 


\06\r7 


u 
< 

Q. 


Q. 

ui 

I- 
UJ 

I 
I 
< 


z 
o 

H 
UJ 
_l 
Q. 

o 
o 


< 


>- 
< 
m 

I 
I- 

o 


joins  Plate  XVIII. 


X 
X 

111 

H 

< 


< 

I- 
w 

UJ 

< 

m 

I 

H 
D 
O 


z 
9 

H 
UJ 

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